Strategies for Enhancing Employee Work Performance
08/12/2020- Make Clear Goals and Expectations
Are your team members aware of what their goals and expectations are? Do they know when you expect goals to be met? How do you know?
Involve individual employees in their own goal-setting process to give them autonomy over their goals. A work environment that actively involves employees in goal-setting can also improve employee engagement and motivation.
If you are dealing with performance issues with a particular team member, make sure to be specific. For example, if you discover a direct report is frequently taking two-hour lunches, don’t tell them to take ‘shorter lunches.’ Tell him or her to keep their lunch break to an hour and consider making them document their lunch breaks or clock in and out of work.
- Empower Employees to Do Their Best Work
People do their best work when they are engaged and motivated. Invest in your employees’ long-term career in the organisation. Develop a plan for moving up within the company and provide the resources and training that will develop staff into talented leaders in the long run.
Your team members will need new skills and habits as they advance. Help employees secure those skills by allocating budget dollars towards workshops, professional development courses, conferences and certifications so they can reach their full potential.
- Hold Team Members Accountable to Goals
Imagine someone asks a direct report to do something even if it’s a clear goal with a set deadline and they don’t do it, but receive no consequence.
What happens next?
Over time, the employee will learn it doesn’t matter if they slack off or have to be reminded. Performance is likely to suffer.
Team members require crystal clear communication about their responsibilities and need to be held accountable. Be sure to communicate with your employees and don’t be afraid to dole out warnings and consequences when they are earned. If certain employees fail to deliver, consider implementing a performance improvement plan. If they don’t improve, it may be time to show them the door.
- Reward High Performance
A common problem in many organisations is that leaders spend their time trying to get low-performing team members to improve and recruiting new talent, ignoring high performers because they don’t cause problems. This is a dangerous oversight!
Over time, high performers will become disengaged and less motivated if they don’t feel like their efforts are appreciated. Furthermore, high performers are in high demand! You could lose them to competitors if you don’t recognise their hard work.
There’s no shortage of ways to reward an employee and thank them for a job well done. Gifts, bonuses, promotions, extra time off, public praise and extra benefits are all effective ways to reward high performers and keep them motivated.
- Foster a Fun, Positive Work Environment
It’s no secret that happy employees are more engaged, productive and motivated team members. Be sure employees get to let loose occasionally and have some fun. Sponsor a monthly potluck, host ‘get to know you’ activities outside of the office or plan a trivia event at work to let team members develop a rapport and relationship with one another.
Encourage an organisational culture where employees feel safe to speak up and voice their opinions, regardless of their rank or position in the company. When people feel their ideas and opinions are valued, they are more likely to participate and be engaged with the mission of the organisation.
- Increase Job Satisfaction
Do a market analysis to see how your organisation stacks up to your competitors. Do you offer competitive benefits and perks? Are your salaries higher or lower than other businesses in your industry? What kind of office environment do you have?
The best way to find out if your benefits and perks are affecting employee performance and motivation is to ask your teams. Have employees complete an anonymous survey to determine what is most important to them.
- Consider Remote Working Options
In today’s society, flexible schedules matter more than ever for busy business professionals. Contrary to popular belief, giving team members the ability to work from home won’t make them less productive.
Research shows that employees who work remotely are 13 percent more productive than their office-working counterparts, and they spend the time would they spend commuting focusing on work.
For example, if one of your team members doesn’t feel well enough to come to the office (and doesn’t care to spread their germs) but they can still get work done, let them work from home rather than take a sick day and accomplish nothing. If someone has a home delivery or repair, they need to be home for, let them work remotely so they can stay productive and not use all of their paid time off.
- Use the Right Technologies
A big part of employee performance is measuring performance. While many companies still rely on annual performance reviews and performance management systems to assess performance, new technologies are available that help measure performance more accurately on an ongoing basis.
Social performance management software that harnesses the power of Promise-Based Management to help teams create and track progress towards goals and collaborate more effectively. Employees make promises to one another in a transparent place so everyone knows who is responsible for what and when it should be accomplished.
Techniques to Improve Employee Performance
Once you get a handle on what is causing employees to underperform, you can target solutions to address those issues. Here are six ideas to help you manage and improve employee performance in your organization.
- Communicate clear expectations.
Making sure employees are clear about their work assignments means communicating those expectations well. Continue to manage what is expected through frequent communications.
If employees can explain objectives in their own words, it is a good chance that they know what to do and how to get it done.
- Make sure performance appraisals are consistent.
Regular and timely appraisals ensure employees know where they stand at all times. Conducting performance appraisals regularly also keeps goals in the forefront of daily tasks.
- Make employee development a priority.
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” This is a common interview question. Now that five years have passed, has your employee’s career goals been achieved? Or, are they still striving to reach their full potential within the organization?
If they are, maybe this is a good time to readdress those goals and plan accordingly. Work to close any skills gaps that will not only help them achieve long-term goals but will also benefit your company when their skills help you fulfill business objectives.
- Take steps toward improving morale.
Employees perform better when they are satisfied with their job. Review things such as:
- Work environment
- Benefits
- Salary level
- Employee understanding of the mission and vision
Employees who understand how their role helps the company succeed are often more willing to do their very best.
- Empower employees to do their jobs well.
Empowering employees can take on many forms as they gain the authority to make decisions that have a huge impact on their success.
Whether it is giving them input on goals and objectives, or allowing them to access their data without going to HR, minor roadblocks will not impede their progress. They have the resources they need, yet know they are held accountable without being micromanaged.
- Utilize the right technologies.
Implement technology platforms that drive performance and engagement daily. Technology is crucial in today’s workforce, especially if you have a decentralized staff.
Mobile employees remain part of the team through powerful communication channels to keep everyone on the same page.
Organizational success thrives when the right rules and systems are in place. Simply wanting to know how to improve employee performance without including employee considerations may not help you achieve set goals.
Create times to have regular meetings and discussions perhaps not waiting until performance appraisal day to talk about areas of concern.
Waiting until your company experiences massive losses is the worst time to swing into action. Begin early, at the first sign of trouble, to determine the most effective ways to change an underperforming workforce into a solid team.