Class Act Hoodies is busy. Maya can no longer make every hoodie herself, so she hires two classmates, Jordan and Aisha, to work a few shifts a week. Suddenly she is not just making hoodies: she is setting schedules, training people on a hot press, answering "can I switch shifts?" texts, and deciding what to do when Jordan and Aisha disagree. That is management: getting work done well through other people, while treating those people fairly.
The four functions of management
| Function | What it means | At Class Act Hoodies |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | Setting goals and deciding how to reach them | Make 60 hoodies in October; schedule shifts around orders |
| Organizing | Arranging people, tasks and resources | Jordan cuts and weeds, Aisha presses and inspects; supplies stocked before each shift |
| Leading | Guiding, motivating and communicating with people | Training each helper on the press checklist; thanking them for good work; listening to ideas |
| Controlling | Checking results against the plan and fixing problems | Weekly check of hoodies made, time per hoodie and redo rate; adjust if behind |
How a manager leads is called their leadership style. Some managers decide everything themselves, some decide with the team, and some let the team decide. Most good managers switch styles depending on the situation: a safety rule is not up for a vote, but how to set up the packing station might be.
A manager's ethical, moral and legal responsibilities
A manager has three kinds of responsibility. Legal responsibilities are rules set by law, and breaking them can bring fines or other penalties. Ethical responsibilities are standards of right and wrong that a business or profession agrees to follow, even where no law demands it. Moral responsibilities come from your own sense of what is fair and decent. A good manager meets all three: the law is the minimum, not the goal.
| Ontario law | What it covers, in general |
|---|---|
| Employment Standards Act (ESA) | Minimum standards for most employees: minimum wage, hours of work, eating periods, rest periods between shifts, overtime, public holidays, vacation time and vacation pay, and keeping records of hours and pay |
| Human Rights Code | Forbids discrimination and harassment in hiring, pay, scheduling, promotion and firing based on protected grounds such as race, colour, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability and family status; employers must accommodate needs related to these grounds |
| Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) | Employers must take every reasonable precaution to protect workers. Workers have the right to know about hazards, the right to take part in keeping the workplace safe, and the right to refuse unsafe work |
| Privacy expectations | Collect only the personal information you need (from employees and customers), keep it secure, and use it only for the reason you collected it |
Handling human-resource issues step by step
Human resources (HR) is the part of management that deals with people: hiring, training, scheduling, pay, safety and solving problems between people. When an HR issue comes up, a calm, fair process works far better than reacting in the moment.
- Get the facts: what happened, when, and who was involved.
- Listen to everyone affected, privately and without judging.
- Check the rules: the law, safety requirements and your own business policies and values.
- List the options and think about how each affects employees, customers, the environment and the community.
- Decide, explain the decision clearly and respectfully, and act.
- Write down what was decided, then follow up to see whether it worked.
| Issue | Fair, legal response |
|---|---|
| Conflict: Jordan and Aisha argue over who does the boring weeding | Meet with each, then together; rotate tasks fairly; agree on a written task schedule |
| Scheduling: Aisha asks not to work evenings when she cares for her mother, who has a disability | Family status is a protected ground, so look for a schedule that accommodates her needs, such as weekend shifts |
| Unfair treatment: a customer says they do not want Jordan delivering because of his race | Refuse the request. Discriminating against an employee is illegal and unethical, even when a customer asks |
| Safety: Jordan burned his hand because he skipped gloves | Give first aid, record what happened, retrain on the checklist, make gloves required, and check whether the setup made skipping them easy |
| Ethics and environment: a cheaper hoodie supplier will not say where or how its hoodies are made | Weigh the savings against the risk to workers far away and to the brand's values; ask for information or stay with the open supplier |
| Community: neighbours complain about late-night noise from the press and fan | Listen, set shifts to end earlier, and thank them for raising it |