Do managers need people skills?

We sometimes hear managers ask, “Why do I have to learn all this people business and ‘soft skills’ – aren’t my people paid to do a job? Why can’t we just get on with the business of creating output and results?”

Well, in the end it is all about results – people are employed to create results and they get a paycheck for creating those results. But people also join companies and spend their time working for other reasons, including:

• Making a difference or to contribute to something larger than themselves.
• Having a community, a place to belong and people to hang out with.
• Having a sense of security.
• Feeling useful and that their life matters.
• Personal development and growth and also to see an increase in capabilities and promotability
• Facing and overcoming challenges, physical or intellectual.
• Knowing that the work helps others.
• Continuous learning.

Leaders and managers: please recognise that this is in your own interest: If you help your people get what they want, they are more likely to give you and the company more of what you want.

So… what does that have to do with people skills?

• Empathy and listening help managers understand the needs and drivers of employees
• Understanding human drivers and investing time in knowing your people will help you motivate them – uniquely, because each person has slightly different motivators.
• Compassion and connection enable you to give feedback and guide people to excellence
• Coaching skills help to set aspirational goals that are aligned with desired results
• Communication skills help to clarify goals, set and hold accountability
• Understanding the impact of stress and the need for wellbeing helps you ensure that people are able to bring their best self to work

Please remember:
Wellbeing supports employees to be their best self, to use their best brain so they can get their work done. It helps them to feel part of a tribe and nurtures a vested interest in the success of the company.

Contributing and belonging keep people motivated, focused, and on task which will inevitably produce better and more sustainable results.

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