Most of the focus when it comes to managers is on making them understand the significance of striking a professional bond with not only the employees that are working under them but also their own managers. However, there is very little emphasis on getting managers to build relationships with their peers. While relationships with managers and other employees have their own benefits, sharing a good rapport with people who are similar in age, skills, and position amongst other things can help them share their experiences with each other and learn from them as well. If organizations are intent on building a peer network, they should add HR into the mix, in order to ensure that everything happens as smoothly as possible and at the same time, falls within the four walls of company policy. It is very important for organizations to make this a company-wide practice, across different departments and processes. So, when they are hiring new employees for different positions, they should replace the usual multiple-round interview with a panel discussion of sorts. And if that’s not possible, they should not reduce the number of interview rounds.
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Once employees arrive at an organization with an already flourishing network that they can turn to anytime, they won’t need the help of their manager or for that matter any other senior within the company whenever they are stuck at something. They will have their colleagues to help them sort things out. Those colleagues are the same people who were a part of the panel that interviewed them.
Having a long interview process, with all those rounds, is still considered a waste of time by many. But it turns out to be quite necessary when you look at it from the perspective of building a network of people that stays with you through thick and thin during your journey with an organization. So, this network will help organizations simplify the onboarding process for their employees. What it also does is improve employee retention.
Every manager requires a set of skills to succeed, including excellent communication skills, team management skills, situation management skills, and performance management skills amongst others. These skills help managers deal with usual workplace things, such as becoming the favorite of their team, handling employee gossip, motivating employees to deliver in tough situations, and more. Also, a big part of a manager’s responsibility is to ensure that things like equity, diversity, and inclusion are always at the center of whatever they do.
Organizations that are really concerned about their own growth as well as the growth of their employees should encourage their managers to have a peer network that they can always turn to for help. A manager’s job isn’t easy by any means. And when an employee is promoted to that position, and that too from within the company, it becomes an ever harder job. They now have to manage a team which they were a part of themselves not so long ago. This is where having a peer network to support them in every tough situation, will always prove helpful in their development as a manager.
Reference: Encourage Managers to Build a Peer Network | HR Bartender | August 10, 2021
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