Granted that you have become a People Manager by design. And that your organization has given you the mandate to manage a team of people. Now commences your journey to understanding this role and mastering it through practice.

Most organizations have vision, mission and values and they are articulated neat and clear on the website besides posting them on the walls prominently. Most of these values relate to Customers, Owners and Employees and how we deliver value to them. In many places, that is where company’s commitment to values begins and ends! Going beyond the rhetoric to reality, values need to be lived everyday by everyone in the organization. And those organizations that have successfully accomplished living values and leading by values have leveraged the role of People Managers very effectively.

People Managers need to have a clear understanding of how they can live up to the core values of the Company through their daily actions. This sets the right climate for managing people. Through every action of theirs including how they induct and orient new joiners, communicate with their team members, participate in setting performance goals, deliver feedback on performance, choose to reward and recognize, manage out marginal performers and coach and counsel, people managers bring to bear the Company values.

Let us look at some specific areas where People Managers can demonstrate their interest in people and thereby create the right climate:

Practicing Openness and Trust in dealing with team members. Remember Stephen Covey’s comments: Trust worthiness precedes Trust. Managers must demonstrate they are trust worthy, before they expect the team to trust them. Willingness to accept healthy criticism, attentive listening (note that waiting to talk is not the same as listening!), respect for individuals in the team, etc., will go a long way in generating the trust and openness.