Foundations for Excellence in Employee Performance


A company’s employees can be a company’s greatest asset or one of its worst headaches and liabilities. Like a complex puzzle, many unique pieces must come together to form a highly motivated and smooth-running team of employees and managers. Below are outlined some of the foundation requirements for excellent employee performance and behavior.

Check out other helpful articles, management tools, and E-Books on my website to assist you in effectively running your business instead of having your business run you.

1. Job Descriptions – Define in writing a clear description of what specific value you expect each job to contribute to the organization's success. What are the major skills, education, or licensing requirements for each job? What major tasks, expected standards of performance and behavior, special personality attributes, and key results are desired?

2. Selection - Pick the right person for the job or task. Skills and tasks can be learned, but personal attributes and values come with the person. Using a good personality assessment instrument can be an invaluable tool, which can save you many problems later. See the Personal Styles Indicator, PSI article. Also check out our E-Book about interviewing and selecting the right person for the job.

3. Orientation - Inform the person about the task or job in regard to your expectations. Don’t expect people to read your mind. Use an orientation checklist.

4. The Employee Handbook - Be sure the employee is given a copy of the company's Employee Handbook which describes the general work rules applying to all employees, such as office hours, grooming, non-discrimination policies, benefits, holidays, and pay procedures. Be sure all employees sign a document that they have read and will abide by the company's work rules. See our Employee Handbook template.

5. Training - Regardless of the person's past experience, don’t assume he or she was taught or knows how to do the job the way you want it done. Tell, Show, Do and Review are the basic steps of training! Create a desktop manual for every job. Learn more with this Desktop Procedures and Training Manual E-Book.

6. A Desktop or Job Manual - A job/task procedures manual describes in detail each basic task and procedure needed to accomplish the job effectively and accurately. It is an excellent training tool and assures consistency of task performance. When you have an excellent training tool like this you never have to fear turnover. Learn more with this Desktop Procedures and Training Manual E-Book.

7. Delegation - Delegation is a learned skill, consisting of 4 distinct steps: Training, Supervising, Coaching, and Delegating. Delegation is a process of systematically extending the reigns of control and authority. See this delegation model PDF file.

8. A Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual - If you have 15 or more employees, or you are delegating the management or supervision of other employees to another person, you need to have a Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual. A P&P Manual describes in specific detail company personnel policies and the precise procedures for handling personnel issues. Managers and supervisors must be trained in the implementation of these policies and procedures so that consistency of treatment for all employees is assured and legal pitfalls avoided.

9. Client/Customer Interviews –In order to know how you are doing as a company and then adjust to changing market needs, set meaningful company goals, and correct organizational deficiencies, it is important to talk to your existing clients/customers about how to improve your products and services. This becomes the source material for setting company, department, and individual goals. If the clients/customers are basically happy, it is a golden opportunity to ask for referrals.

10. Goal-Setting & Progress Updates – Regular goal-setting sessions are essential for yourself and your employees if you want to achieve above-average results. Employees deserve to receive specific and measurable feedback on how they are doing and how effective changes in systems, procedures, or behaviors have been. Therefore, a baseline (where we are now) must be established and a quantitative feedback system put in place.

11. Regular Performance Reviews – Informal quarterly performance reviews help employees, contractors, etc. understand how they are doing in relation to expectations and give them a chance to modify performance and behavior to stay aligned and on track with goals. Annual reviews are the final report card on how the employee has done and is an opportunity to set individual learning and development, as well as achievement goals for the next year.

12. Reinforcement: Maintaining Good or Improved Performance - Your most valuable employee is the good steady producer or the one who is making efforts to improve. To ignore this employee is an invitation for the "just showing up for work" syndrome. Making a specific effort to notice and acknowledge good or improved behavior or performance reinforces and supports getting more of what you want from employees.

13. Corrective Discussions - The purpose of a corrective discussion is to redirect the activities and behaviors of employees or work groups to align with the company's mission, values, rules, and goals. To be most effective, handle one problem at a time and handle problems as soon as they appear. All formal, corrective discussions should be documented in writing on an employee counseling form to avoid problems later. Learn more with this E-Book entitled "How to Handle Sticky Employee Discussions with Ease and Success."

14. Performance Discussions – Performance discussions are problem-solving sessions on the quality and quantity of work performed, which may or may not be under the control of the individual. Very often, a performance problem is about inadequate internal systems, not the employee. Once the problem is identified, individual or team problem-solving sessions are helpful for finding the most effective solution.

15. Behavior Discussions – Behavior problems are actions or attitudes, such as tardiness, inaccuracy, poor grooming, lack of teamwork, gossip, rudeness, or sabotage, which are totally under the control of the individual and can be changed only by the individual. This requires a problem-solving session where only the employee can solve the problem, so the ball must be kept in the employee's court.

16. Follow-up Discussions – Within 2 weeks to thirty days of having a performance or behavior discussion with an employee, it is vital to have a follow-up discussion to report to the employee the level of progress or non-progress. If this discussion is not held, the employee will think that the problem was not really that important to you.

If sufficient progress was made, you will have a Maintaining Improved Performance Discussion. If insufficient progress has been made, then you must indicate the consequences of continued lack of improvement.

17. Final Disciplinary Discussions – This is the third and final opportunity for the employee to correct a serious problem before losing his or her job. Consequences were defined in the follow-up discussion if the employee did not have adequate improvement in performance or behavior. Now is the time for those consequences to take place.

It takes time and perseverance to accomplish each of these steps, so do a little each day. This is the way you will be able to grow and run your business instead of having your business run you.

 

Joan Bolmer, 3307 Lake Ridge Bend, Spring TX, 77380; Office 832.458.0455
Copyright (c) 2007-2010, by Joan Bolmer, all rights reserved. Contact Joan Bolmer by e-mail at joan@bolmer.com Website: http://www.bolmer.com Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute this article so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached.