Small offices are often the last to pick up on what’s new in management and human resources. Managers may mistakenly think that they don’t have to follow the latest trends because their offices are
Judi Clements works with managers to empower their employees
small, their employees few in number, and their problems minimal. Such blindness can often hurt a small practice.
Small offices are in need of better management and human resources practices because those offices count on their staff more than some larger offices do. In a small office, every employee plays a vital role. Often employees are cross-trained to do more than one job because everyone has to “pitch in” when the customer calls. Each employee makes a difference.
Managers in small office settings are the ones who can make the greatest difference. They need to be skillful in how to motivate, coach, evaluate, and mentor their staff. Without this kind of leadership, employees do not grow, and they too easily become “overhead”, resulting in a loss of business for the organization.
Managers, however, often come to their jobs with little or no formal management training. Since they also have other roles in the organization, they may push management duties off to a corner somewhere and label them “nice-to-do”, rather than vital.
