Many employers view performance as an employee issue. Consequences are
meted out for undesired behaviours and when the changes do not occur,
discipline progresses up to termination. (Ha! Now someone else can deal
with them!) For successful performance improvement, it is important to
consider all of the factors that may be influencing that employee's
behaviour (performance). There are six critical factors to consider
when seeking to improve employee performance:
- Rewards & consequences
- Clear expectations
- Environment & tools
- Knowledge & skills
- Feedback & organizational support
- Individual capacity
While individual capacity is part of the overall puzzle, it is only one
piece. Organizationally, if the working environment, resources,
expectations and support are lacking, there is only so much an employee
can change. This includes ensuring job descriptions and performance
appraisals are set up to clearly define, reward and consequence desired behaviours.
Sometimes what is stated as desired is undercut by the behaviours which
are being rewarded. For example, if we say customer service is #1, but
performance reviews or bonuses are based on the number of customers
served in an hour or on the quantity of the sale, then employees are
more likely to focus on the quantity (of people or dollars) than on
great customer service. If behaviour changes are required in an
environment which does not support them, then it is unrealistic to
expect the changes.
Consider another example: If an employee working remotely is required
to submit reports online on a weekly basis and is consistently late, is
it the employee's fault? To evaluate a behaviour, consider all six factors for possible influences.
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Is
your follow up about late reports timely and specific enough to be
linked clearly in the employee's mind to the behaviour in question?
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Is the initial expectation of precisely when reports are due clear?
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Is the working environment conducive to the task? Are the tools (server, computer) reliable?
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Does the employee know how to access the report and how to complete it?
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Is there organizational support for working remotely?
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Is the employee capable of the task?
If after reviewing the factors, you discover that the server is down
repeatedly and the employee understood that weekly reports had to be
submitted before Monday morning of the following week, then the factors
to address are: Clear expectations, Environment & tools.
Consider
a current performance challenge you are facing with one of your team
members and apply the six factors to ensure successful performance
management in your organization.
For additional information on improving your team's performance, contact Kaleidoscopic at 416-238-7454 or Inquiries@kscopic.ca.
