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Last Updated February 19, 2021

Develop successful leaders and managers

The role of strong leaders and managers in business is to communicate, empower and motivate their employees whilst being strategically focused on performance outcomes.

This will allow you, as the business owner, to focus on the needs of your business and customers as well as drive success.

Why are so many businesses getting it wrong, with business leaders and managers who are failing to effectively lead and manage?

Put simply, businesses are not providing the right, if any, support and development to their leaders and managers. This is having an effect on individual performance and ultimately their team’s performance.

How can you provide support to your leaders and managers, and provide them with the development they need to meet your expectations?

It is important to develop open and two way communication. Initially this will be through a structured induction and probation process tailored to your leaders and managers.

Afterwards, this will be through regular catch ups and annual performance appraisal processes. During these meetings, discuss what is working well and what needs more attention in order to meet performance objectives.

As the needs of your business and clients change, so to will the needs of the leaders, managers and employees.

So empower your employees with the confidence of ongoing learning and development opportunities.

Consider offering a variety of on and off the job training, internal and external courses and workshops, compliance training, supported external study, as well as coaching and mentoring.

There are different methods of learning and development and how they should be used to develop employees will vary based on your location, budget, workload and the individuals needs.

Lastly, there is no better way to motivate an individual or group of individuals than to get them involved. Include your leaders and managers in shaping the future direction of the business by involving them in annual planning and budgeting processes for your business.

Remember, supporting your leaders and managers within the Human Resources function doesn’t need to be difficult and should be ongoing.  Provide them with opportunities to communicate, empower and motivate and in turn they will begin to contribute towards driving success within your business. 

Contact us at Small Business Society and let us, help you, complete your business Human Resources.


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About Kate Tongue

Kate Tongue is the founding Director of Small Business Society.

She is a qualified and experienced Human Resources professional with more than 10 years of experience across the private and public sectors.

Her particular interest and experience is in managing the employee life cycle, delivering process improvements, and Human Resource strategy.


Looking for more information on the various stages of the employee life cycle or Human Resources in general?  The following may interest you.

Articles to assist you with your leaders and employee engagement:
Help your leaders lead
Improve your employee engagement

Articles to assist you with planning in your business:
Why human resources planning is never a waste of time
Human Resource Reports

Do you know your Human Resources terms?
15 must know HR terms

Plus lots more information and advice:
Small Business Society Blog