Hints on managing employee difficulties (Guest blog)

Employees are the backbone of an organization. Employee complaints are frequent in an organization and managers are always responsible for making them stay with the company. A manager should always listen to the difficulties faced by the employees so as to enhance the smooth running of the organization. Let’s look at some of the difficulties faced by employees and some ways to tackle them.

Salary Hike

This is the most important problem faced by the employees. Most of the time, employees complain about the salary hike to their managers. The salary paid presently is not sufficient for the employees and they find it difficult to balance their living cost. So what the management can do is raise a specific amount of money or provide some other kinds of monetary benefits and incentives that can help them stick to the company for longer period. The management should understand the fact that when the business grows, more salary should be paid to the employees or else they are sure to leave, effecting the reputation of the company. Understand the depth of work of the employee and pay them.

Work Stress

Another frequent problem raised by the employees is work stress. Due to more work pressure, employees are susceptible to many kinds of physical and mental problems. More of work pressure will have an adverse effect on his/ her performance. Work stress comes from various sources like demanding boss, angry customers, family relationships, financial problems etc. and these problems are sure to lure the employee’s sleep and the never ending work stress undergo sleepless nights which will affect his performance and reduce productivity. What the management can do to resolve this is to give a break to the employee. The employee needs a relaxation from the daily humdrums of his life. One more thing the management can do is hiring another candidate. When departments are understaffed, more pressure comes on the existing employees. When the business grows, the number of employees must also grow in tandem.

Personal Problems

Apart from official problems, an employee is certain to have personal family problems. For example, there may be a situation when a close relative of the employee is in death bed. Instead of making the employee stay back in office, the management should send him/her to their native place and tell them to settle down and be back to work only after things are calm. If the manager sees his employee distracted, talk to him and understand what the situation is and act according to the employee’s needs. When you understand the situation of the employee and act accordingly, the employee will always respect you and also he will like to stay with the company for a long duration. Also the manager can build a good rapport with the employee and this strong relation always helps in the growth of the business.

Conflicts between Employees

In an organization, conflicts between employees are very frequent. Often the conflicts between two or more employees end in brawling. This is a serious issue which needs to be handled carefully. Management should understand that the disputes between employees are common and inevitable. To deal with them needs a bit of effort. What the management can do is understand the problem which provoked the employees to fight with each other. Find out if the conflict is work-related and has a structural root cause or whether it’s interpersonal and has no relationship to the job. An interpersonal conflict can happen on or off the job, whereas structural ones are inevitable in many organizations. If it’s personal then the manager should probably have an informal talk with the employee and explain that the office is not a place for personal grudges. If it is work related then the manager can sit down and have a face to face talk with the employees.

The above mentioned points are some of the difficulties faced by the employees and some appropriate ways to tackle them. To run an organization to success, the happiness of employees is a key factor. The employees should be motivated and encouraged to work more and it’s the responsibility of the management to provide the best environment for them.

Author Bio:

Harvey Hammond has for many years helped student’s review and write dissertations. His practice and skill have allowed him to write blogs such as ‘Hints on managing employee difficulties'.