Foundation for Good Employee Performance and Behavior

The employees of a business 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.

See my website for many helpful articles, management tools and e-books to assist you in effectively running your business instead if it running you.

1. Job Descriptions – Define in writing a clear description of what specific value you expect each job to contribute to the organizations success. For each job what are the major skills, education or licensing requirements? What are the major tasks, expected standards of performance and behavior, special personality attributes and key results 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 Personal Styles Indicator, PSI, on my website.click here,also the e-book, 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. Click here

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, pay procedures. Be sure all employees sign a document that they have read and will abide by the company's work rules. Click here

5. Training - Regardless of the persons 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. (Desk Top Procedures and Training e-book on web site soon)

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. (Desk Top Procedures and Training e-book on web site soon)

7. 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 the delegation model click here

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 your are doing as a company, to adjust to changing market needs, to set meaningful company goals and to 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 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. to understand how they are doing in relationship to expectations and gives 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.Click here

14. Performance Discussions – are problem solving sessions on 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, a team or individual problem solving sessions is helpful in 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 is 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 two weeks to 30 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 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 it running you.