Are you frustrated by the performance of your employees?
Being an owner of a business with employees is tough. You have to give up responsibility for certain aspects of your business to others. But being an employee can be tough, too. How would you feel if you worked for you? Think about that. It could give you a new perspective.
One of the leading reasons most businesses underperform is that there is too much “I” in the business and not enough “we.” By that I mean too much owner hands-on and too little delegation to a competent team. You need an employee performance appraisal system if you are going to have a “we”-structured company.
Most employees want to do a good job. However, in the absence of clearly defined goals and responsibilities, they”™re left to determine what “doing a good job” means.
If employees don”™t know your goals and their role in achieving them, their contribution to the company”™s success is haphazard at best. Build an organization that can operate without your constant involvement in everything.
First, create written job descriptions. In a single page, define the mission of the business and how each employee”™s role contributes to that mission. Be crystal clear not only about what is expected of each employee but what the priorities of their job are.
Rank the top five to seven responsibilities of each employee and put a percentage next to that activity to show the amount of time and effort they need to put into it (total cannot exceed 100 percent). There are also specific attributes an employee must have to do a job well: Good interpersonal skills, formal sales training and specific technology experience are some examples.
When you”™re done with the job description, give it to the employee for review and input. You both are likely to find this approach enlightening.
Track employee performance against their responsibilities. Start with an annual business plan and work with each employee to set specific goals, strategies and tactics to achieve your objectives. Be specific. If they”™re in a sales role, it”™s not enough to write: “make more sales.” How many more do you expect and over what period of time? What activities do you expect them to undertake ”“ networking, formal sales calls, upselling your top 10 clients, etc.?
Here are four ways to improve employee performance:
Reward good work publicly. Single people out in staff meetings when they do a good job. Never criticize an employee in a public setting and certainly never in front of a client. You not only make the employee look bad, you make yourself look bad and you weaken a client”™s trust in your business.
Conduct a performance evaluation at least twice a year. These should be done half-way through the year and not before a major holiday. Meet with each employee and give him constructive feedback on how he is performing. Talk honestly and be specific. It”™s ineffective to say, “Phil, you did a lousy job handling that account.” How does Phil fix “lousy”? Tell the employee exactly what you think he did or did not do that affected the outcome.
Put the appraisal in writing. Let the employee do a self-assessment first (comparing his work against the job description and annual goals) and then weigh in with comments after. That approach shows respect for the employee and your leadership.
It”™s lonely being a boss. It is hard work starting and running a business. Why shoulder it all yourself? The whole purpose of employees is to share the workload. Make clear to employees what your goals are and what their role is in achieving them. Give them the right tools and reward them for good performance and you will likely get the results that you want.
Josh Slavitt is a business strategies and certified business coach with Westport-based Next Level Strategies. Reach him at joshslavitt@actioncoachnow.net.
