The craft of people management

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to look at the “core” ingredients of successful people management and the areas that are critical to success.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper argues that organizations can be stripped back to the essentials of “what” (the purpose), “how” (the understanding of how the goal will be accomplished) and “do” (carrying out the activity to deliver the goal).

Findings

The paper contends that making sure everyone knows and understands what is expected in order to deliver can be used as a means to help, guide, reward, recognize or redirect members of the team.

Practical implications

The paper urges managers to help employees to set their own goals. It considers the psychological contract between employer and employee – a usually unwritten and unspoken deal which, on the employee's side, is concerned with expectations about security, development, support and so on, and on the employer's side is about flexibility, loyalty, adherence to company norms and so on.

Social implications

The paper underlines the importance of work being challenging and stimulating.

Originality/value

The paper advances the view that clarity of purpose, engagement, reward and recognition are key elements in achieving success through people.

Citation

Maloney, K. and Stanford, P. (2011), "The craft of people management", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 3-5. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670731111125844