Category: Employer Advice

As an employer, managing employee performance and engagement levels is your responsibility. Unfortunately, employees can’t reach their full potential at work 100% of the time as workload can build up, causing a dip in productivity and creativity. Being happy in one’s role at work is one of the most important factors to an employee giving their best efforts and for a successful company. Low morale leads to a high turnover and poor efforts which hinders the company from succeeding.

Managing employee performance in 12 easy steps

1.Training

New employees should receive proper training and induction. This will give the employee clarification on what exactly they should be doing and how they should be doing it. Training should also be provided to long-term employees so as they can continue to develop skills and performance.

2.Communication

Communication is essential. Employees prefer it when they are firstly treated as a person and then an employee. Keep employees up to date with everything that is going on within the company, this will make them feel a greater sense of importance and responsibility.

3.Set Goals

Clearly setting out the company goals and visions lets the employee know exactly what is expected from them and what they are supposed to be doing. Discuss with employees what their employment/career goals are and work towards them. To learn more about setting career goals check out our article How to set and achieve long-term career goals.

4.Encouragement

Encouragement is a win-win. Support employees and let them know what they are doing is worth it and not going unnoticed. Encouragement will make you feel good as you build your relationship with employees and it will encourage employees to keep up their hard work.

5.Team work

Set tasks for employees to complete in teams.

6.Feedback

Provide feedback to employees. This allows the employee to share their opinions and inform of any struggles that they may be experiencing. Providing feedback can also be a good motivator for the employee to do better or change how they are doing something. Feedback provides openness which allows honesty and loyalty.

7.Delegation

Delegating roles on to employees gives them the opportunity to learn and grow. It shows that you trust them to do the job and it also frees up your workload. Involve them in decision-making roles, ask for their input and ideas, if they have been involved in every step of the process and invested a lot of time in it, they are more likely to be emotionally invested in it and put more work in.

Making your employees feel loved

8.Rewards

Give employees gratitude when they are doing a good job or rewards for teams if there is a huge increase in sales from hard work. Rewards are the biggest motivator.

9.Work Environment

Create and encourage a work environment that allows everyone to voice their opinions and that ensures their opinions are heard, for both management and staff. People are more likely to express innovative ideas to those that will listen.

10.Social Activities

Social days and team building activities allows employees to blow off steam and to build on their relationships. A lot of employees spend more time with their co-workers than they do with their family. Strong working relationships are important as there is personal and professional gain.

11.Competitions

Holding competitions gets the adrenaline pumping and people go the extra mile to win if it is a competition. They also make for a fun office environment.

12.Take a Break

Studies show that not everyone takes breaks while working. Lunch breaks should be encouraged as working non-stop in the same environment can have negative effects on creative thinking.

Some Tips on managing employee performance from Office Manager Patricia Mackin

• Introduce a clean desk policy, this ensures employees are working in a clean, fresh and comfortable environment which increases productivity.  It also reduces stress as everything is organised – A place for everything and everything in its place.
• Plants offer more than just visual value.  Studies have shown they also help reduce stress, enhance employee attitudes, increase productivity and improve air quality.
• Drinking water is critical for productivity and mental alertness, it also increases energy levels and relieves fatigue.  Experts suggest drinking at 2 litres per day.  Providing a water cooler ensures your staff can avail of a continuous supply of filtered cold drinking water on tap all day long.
• Provide employees with the right technology and training so they can enjoy their job more.  It will enable them to work to the highest standard giving them a sense of satisfaction.
• Effective communication can form a good working relationship between Managers and Staff.   The result of a team that works well together is high productivity, integrity and responsibility.
• Providing Tea & Coffee in the workplace is a small bonus that staff really appreciate.  Adding additional treats throughout the year such as biscuits, cakes etc. is a simple way to keep your staff happy and make them feel appreciated.

To learn more about managing employee performance and problems we recommend this short course available on lynda.com: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Managing-Employee-Performance-Problems/144199-2.html