The relationship between a manager and an employee can have a significant effect on the productivity of any procurement department. When a procurement employee is performing at their best, it aligns positively against business goals and department targets. Generally speaking, employee management can be split into three different areas:
For you to deliver the most elevated level of management at each of these stages, you need to implement effective employee management solutions. We’ve created a list of some effective procurement employee and manager tips that you can apply at all of these stages to ensure a successful relationship between manager and employee.
1. Motivating the team
As part of employee engagement and retention (and so that your department can run smoothly), workplace efficiency and productivity may need to be boosted from time to time. As the head or senior manager within your department, boosting morale and motivating the team needs to come from you. Whether it’s team-building activities or incentives, you need to make sure what you choose is based on the team you have. Often, the best way to know what motivates people is to simply ask them. Making this part of the appraisal process will allow them to feel heard and will help you tailor your solution to each procurement employee.
2. Lowering employee costs
Many businesses in the current climate are trying to reduce expenses. For some, current perks for employees have had to be reviewed and brought into question. Before you decide on what needs to go to meet your department’s new expense target, take a read of our blog post that outlines five different ways to reduce expenses. Be sure to explore all avenues for reducing expenses before you remove any employee perks . Tools, such as fuel cards and putting time into doing further research on company vehicles and equipment, can really help to reduce costs and may mean that perks can stay.
3. Open Communication
When it comes to developing a positive relationship between manager and employee in the workplace, communication is key. Although you may not be able to communicate face to face right now, ensuring that frequent conversation continues is important for building and developing trust and continuing with a positive employee and manager relationship. Video calls are great and allow you to see your colleagues. However, if connectivity is a problem, instant messaging, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, is a great method for ensuring that the communication line is still open.
4. Feedback
Having to deliver both positive and negative feedback is part of being a manager in any industry or department. However, the way you deliver such feedback (particularly negative feedback) can affect how any employee develops within the business. As a manager or department head, you need to aid in your employee’s development and, any time you deliver feedback, this needs to be kept in mind. Self-evaluations, either via a form or survey, are a great tool for breaking the ice on a tricky subject and set up a more comfortable environment for you and an employee to discuss a key area for development.
5. Lead by Example
We’ve found that one of the most effective employee management solutions is to lead your team by example. Sometimes, this may mean being open and honest with your team if something doesn’t go to plan or if you do something wrong. However, being open and honest with your team about your failings will help to develop trust between them and you. Mistakes and problems are always going to occur, however it’s how well you deal with them and how you resolve or control the damage of a problem, which is the most important factor. To help encourage employees, use an example of when this has happened to you in the past and explain what happened and how you resolved it. Your team members will respect and appreciate your honesty and will implement the same process and fundamentals should they make any mistakes.
Incorporating the ideas behind each of these five points will help with the ongoing growth of a working relationship and make the engagement and retention part of your role much easier. When it comes to successful procurement, employee management is just one part of the job within your business. Managing the relationship with your supplier is equally important. To find more about the importance of procurement supplier relationship management, please check out our dedicated blog post on this topic.
