Introduction to People Management

This report provides an introduction to people management, focusing on the challenges faced by line managers in managing people at the workplace. It discusses the necessary knowledge, skills, and behavior required to become an effective people manager. The report also explores the HR process and support management for effective performance management. The case study of Amazon is used to illustrate the concepts and practices of people management.

Introduction to people
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body...................................................................................................................................................3
Issues faced by line management during people management.................................................................3
Discuss knowledge, skills and behavior require to become an effective people managers......................5
What is underpin by HR process and support management for effective performance management.......6
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................9
REFRENCES............................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
People management is related with planning, organizing and maintaining effective
performance of individuals for ensuring their significant contribution in organizational goals &
objectives. It is stated that success of a company lies in its people so it is vital to manage work
force in best possible manner. People management is a wide function under which different
activities such as from hiring, motivating, retaining employees and so on are included in
significant manner (Garcia-Zamor, 2019). The present report is based on Amazon which is a well
known ecommerce company and currently offering a range of products and services through
online medium across the globe. There are ample of issues faced by line managers of company in
managing people at work place. Further, report includes the necessary knowledge, behavior
which is required for effective people management within organization. Lastly, it provides
information about HR process and support management for effective performance management.
Moreover, people management is an effective practice which is helpful in order to manage
higher productivity and efficiency of work force in significant manner.
Main Body
Issues faced by line management during people management
Line managers are the key between upper managers and employees. They oversee the
performance of employees and maintain a close relationship with them. They associated with
both staff members and top level managers so act as the communication medium between both
the parties. It is the responsibility of line managers to evaluate, supervise the work of employees
and maintain positive relationship with them. Employees cannot directly approach to top level
managers so line managers required to liaison their issues and provide best possible solution.
However, they also face some difficulties while performing the job roles and responsibilities. In
context of Amazon, major issues faced by line managers are mentioned below:
Lack of communication: In contemporary world, communication is the key of business
by which managers ensure proper flow of information at each and every level of organizational
hierarchy. Lack of communication might create a lot of issues such as ambiguity, conflicts,
grazes, disputes and more (Randev and Jha, 2019). Line managers often find it difficult to

maintain proper communication with work force. Each and every employee has different
personality, mind set so there is higher probability of miscommunication and misinterpretation.
Due to lack of communication, it is challenging for line managers to take out necessary
information from staff members. It is stated that Amazon is a multinational company under
which communication is the major issue due to a lot of managerial level and formal procedures.
Hence, this lack of communication might hamper the relationship of managers and employees.
Conflicts: When people having different mindset, opinions and viewpoints work
together, it is common to arise conflicts at work place. It is analyzed that employees are
generally do not get agreed on same perspective which further become the reason of conflicts. It
is the most emerging issue which is faced by line managers as they oversee the work of
employees regularly. Main reason of conflicts is diversity, disagreement and more. It is
important to resolve the conflicts as soon as possible for avoiding after effects of conflicts. In
Amazon, different people belong from different background work together so it is obvious to
have conflicts due to difference in opinion, culture and thoughts. Line managers need to put
significant efforts for minimizing conflicts effectively.
Lack of coordination: Coordination brings positive result and necessary for betterment
of company. But, it is often analyzed that employee failed to effectively coordinate with each
other which might hamper the whole business process (Bazeley, 2018). It is a challenging task
for line managers to maintain necessary coordination in team members throughout the business
process. In reference of Amazon, managers also face the issues related to coordination and
collaboration. Due to diversity and internal conflicts, employees cannot coordinate with each
other effectively.
Balance between management and employees: It is the most common challenge faced
by line managers as they are responsible to maintain balance between managers and employees.
Here, employees expect adequate pay, proper work environment, opportunities of growth, safety
and security to management. While, management also seek for cooperation, coordination, loyalty
from work force. If, one of the both parties get failed to meet with expectations then it become a
reason on disputes, strikes, protest and more. In Amazon, managers face great difficulties in
maintaining proper balance between management and staff members of company.

Discuss knowledge, skills and behavior require to become an effective people managers
In present time, individuals are considered as crucial stakeholders of business as they are
responsible to put the significant efforts for future betterment and growth of business. For
managing human resources effectively, there is requirement to have certain skills, knowledge
which is mentioned below:
Interpersonal skills: Being an HR manager, a person needs to interact with ample of
internal and external parties. They need to communicate with employees on daily basis and also
need to maintain proper interaction with external parties for which it is vital to have necessary
interpersonal skills. In addition to this, interpersonal skills are also required to resolve the issues
which are being faced by work force at work place (Trapp, Voigt and Brem, 2018). HR managers
need to have empathy so that they can understand the issues, problems faced by work force. In
context of Amazon, it is important for people managers to have necessary interpersonal skills for
maintaining positive relationship with staff members.
Performance management: Performance management refers to evaluating as well as
maintaining performance of employees at work place. For this, it is required to analyze the
performance consistently on the basis of predefined criteria. Here, managers are required to set
benchmarks for evaluating performance of work force in an efficient manner. In Amazon,
managers often take necessary steps for managing performance of staff members in significant
manner for getting better outcomes in future period of time.
Employee relations: This is also a crucial skill which is helpful in building as well as
maintaining positive relationships with employees. It is often seen that there are conflicts arise
between managers and subordinates which further become a reason of organizational dispute,
strikes and more (Abildgaard, 2018). So, managers need to have capability to maintain positive
relationship with work force. Effective employee relationship is also helpful in retaining work
force for longer duration. In reference of Amazon, managers need to maintain positive
relationship with staff members so that they stay with company for longer period of time.
Team work and collaboration: Team work is the ability to work in a group in
collaborative manner. For managing people at work place, it is required to develop team work
capabilities for managing the team in an effective manner. In addition to this, collaboration is

also required to eliminate conflicts at work place. In reference of Amazon, managers need to
have team work abilities for managing work force in an appropriate way and bring appropriate
collaboration and coordination among team members within organization.
Ability to motivate: In current time, motivation is required to get the work done in desired
manner. Motivation is helpful in generating willingness among employees so that they put
significant efforts for growth and success of organization (Mendes, Marston and Katz, 2016).
There are a lot of ways can be used to inspire employees such as monetary and non monetary.
For this, managers need to have the competency to understand the requirement of work force and
then embark appropriate technique of motivation significantly. Now, motivation has become a
significant part of people management without which it will be difficult to get the desired work
done. In reference of Amazon, HR managers need to have significant knowledge about
motivation theories and its application at work place for getting positive outcomes in future
period of time.
What is underpin by HR process and support management for effective performance
management
HR process comprises a lot of steps so that company can attain predefined objectives
within stipulated period of time. For this purpose, certain steps of HR process are mentioned
below:
Human resource planning: It is the first step under which company make an appropriate
plan for recruiting and selecting human resource for meeting with future requirements of
company in an efficient manner.
Recruitment and selection: Under this step, managers hire and select qualified and
competent people for getting the work done effectively (Rajagopalan and Srivastava, 2018).
Training: After recruitment, the next step is to train work force so that they will be able
to perform assigned task in an efficient manner. Here, training helps in improving productivity
and efficiency of work force.
Performance management: Under this, performance of staff members is evaluated by
managers regularly so that they can take necessary corrective actions for further improvement.

Lay off/ Off boarding: It is the last but crucial stage in which employees leave the
company or they terminated by managers. After lay off, employees do not remain part of
organization any more.
It is analyzed that performance management is an imperative part of HR process under
which managers clearly communicate job requirements, expectation, roles to employees for
optimizing performance of an individual at work place. In performance management, there is a
criteria is determined by managers on the basis of while progress of work force can be monitored
significantly (Sparrow and et. al., 2018). In performance management, HR managers focus on
improvement in skills and abilities of individuals so that they can perform assigned task in best
possible way. After, performance management, company determines scope of improvement and
also provides necessary incentives, bonus to work force accordingly. In this regards, goals
setting theory of performance management is mentioned below:
According to this theory, goals need to set for measuring and maintain effective
performance of employees within organization. It is said that when individuals set tough goals
then they are likely to perform more effectively for realizing those goals in real context. Apart
from this, goal setting is helpful in preparing appropriate action plan for providing necessary
guidance to employees as well as organizations. Consequently, employees get inspired to work
better for achievement of predefined goals which further bring positive results within company.
Some principles of goal setting theory are mentioned below:
 Clarity: It refers to a clear goal which can be easily measured on predefined parameters
and can be achieved with set timeline (Dykstra, 2018)
 Challenge: According to this, goals need to be challenging which motivate staff
members to put more efforts for realizing the goals in real context.
 Commitment: This principle make individuals and organization enable to put more
deliberate efforts for meeting with predefined objectives. Further, it also helps to achieve
goals significantly.
 Feedbacks: It provides necessary information on the progress so that appropriate
improvements can be undertaken for further betterment.

 Task Complexity: As per this principle, goals need to broken down into smaller
components for reducing the complexity. Then, employees need to put effort for
achieving smaller goals effectively.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded with above stated information that people management is an activity
which comprises a lot of functions from hiring to motivating as well as retaining employees in an
efficient manner. Discussion has been carried out regarding challenges faced by line managers
during people management along with the skills, knowledge that are required for effective people
management. It is summarized that HR process significantly helps in effective performance
management of employees at work place.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Abildgaard, M., 2018. The Continuous Improvement Primer: an introduction to Basic Lean,
Quality Management, Environmental Management and other Management Systems.
Bazeley, P., 2018. A practical introduction to mixed methods for business and management. Sage.
Dykstra, A., 2018. Construction project management: A complete introduction. Kirshner
Publishing Company.
Garcia-Zamor, J.C., 2019. An Introduction to Participative Planning and Management. In Public
Participation in Development Planning and Management (pp. 3-11). Routledge.
Mendes, P., Marston, G. and Katz, I., 2016. Introduction for special issue on income
management. Australian Journal of Social Issues, The, 51(4), pp.393-397.
Mendes, P., Marston, G. and Katz, I., 2016. Introduction for special issue on income
management. Australian Journal of Social Issues, The, 51(4), pp.393-397.
Rajagopalan, J. and Srivastava, P.K., 2018. Introduction of a new metric “Project Health
Index”(PHI) to successfully manage IT projects. Journal of Organizational Change
Management.
Randev, K.K. and Jha, J.K., 2019. Sustainable Human Resource Management: A Literature-based
Introduction. NHRD Network Journal, 12(3), pp.241-252.
Sparrow and et. al., 2018. Introduction: Macro talent management in emerging and emergent
markets: Foundations for a developing field. In Macro Talent Management in Emerging
and Emergent Markets (pp. 1-21). Routledge.
Trapp, M., Voigt, K.I. and Brem, A., 2018. Business models for corporate innovation
management: Introduction of a business model innovation tool for established
firms. International Journal of Innovation Management, 22(01), p.1850007.