If you’re an entrepreneur or a business owner, your performance depends on the performance of your team. You wouldn’t go to work without putting on a suit and tie, as it’s important to keep up appearances. The same applies to employees. Here are four proven ways of improving employee performance in y your business.
1. Effective Leadership
To create a strong and healthy organization, it is important that leaders develop high quality leaders who will one day lead others within the organization. By developing future leaders, they are ensuring that once they leave the company, there will be a strong foundation for continued success long into the future. What’s more, you also want to make sure your employees understand the company culture which may mean you will need to communicate with them more than you might think. This way they are able to understand their roles within the company and how they fit into the grand scheme of things.
How do you become a good leader?
If you want to improve your employees’ performance, then you need to make sure they are learning. Here are 10 ways to improve your employee’s performance:
- Be a good listener. Many people think that communication is just about speaking, but listening is just as important. Good listeners are able to take in information, process it and respond appropriately. Good communication skills will help you solve business problems and improve employee performance.
- Give clear instructions. When you give instructions to your employees, make sure they understand what you mean and why it is important for them to do it. Your employees should be able to follow the instructions without having to ask questions or leave them with any ambiguity.
- Provide feedback to employees regularly. You should provide feedback on a regular basis – not just when something goes wrong – so that employees know what is going well and where there is room for improvement. This will help avoid misunderstandings and boost employee morale too. The best way is to use an employee management system that gives work performance reports automatically.
- Be a good role model. Employees learn more from watching their manager than they do from hearing their manager speak! If your employees see how hard you work and the pride that you take in doing the job well, they are more likely to work hard themselves and be proud of their work too!
2. Effective Training
Have you ever been to a training course that was so boring that you fell asleep? Did you ever think to yourself, “I’m paying somebody to bore me!” When employees are taught they should listen and take notes. The problem is, if they are bored, they will either be doodling or be sleeping. Telling your employees to take notes is also a great way of letting them know that the training is important. In fact, there is no quicker way to make them think something is not worth their time than by asking them to take notes.
The best way to ensure that your employees are listening and learning is by making sure that the material is interesting. If it’s not, then find out why and make changes if necessary. Make sure the purpose of the training has been clearly defined. This includes telling them what they will be expected to do with the new knowledge once they have completed the course. Make sure that this is communicated before the course starts so your employees have time to digest what it means for them personally. Make sure that all of your team members understand why they need to be at the training in the first place. You may want to start by
3. Continuous learning
Set performance goals for your employees and follow through on the consequences. If an employee fails to meet his goals, discuss with him what went wrong and how he can improve. What he has been doing right may not have been recognized. Providing learning opportunities is another great way of showing you value them and improving their performance. For example, if an employee has been struggling with the same task for weeks, why not let them shadow someone on a different team for a day and see if that helps? Another thing you can do is reward success. If an employee has done really well, take them out for lunch or give them time off so they can recharge and feel valued once again. In turn this will improve their performance even further.
A key factor in employees’ success is their continuous learning. Effective companies set up a training program that allows employees time to acquire new skills in order to perform their duties better. This also enhances employees’ self-esteem and creates a sense of job security instead of one of constant fear for the future. Expect a certain amount of commotion when you’re promoting a new initiative or shifting directions, but don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed by it. Remind yourself that most change is for the betterment of the company, its employees and its customers. And although change can be difficult at times, it’s important to encourage it so your business doesn’t fall behind its competitors.
4. Effective Communication
It’s all about communication. If you can lead your employees to better performance, then you will be more successful as a manager. Communicate the company strategy, what is important and why it needs to get done. Every employee should understand the vision of the company, product or service that they are delivering. In addition to communication within the organization, keep employees in tune with outside information related to the industry and competitors. Establish regular meetings throughout the year that connect employees to managers, employees to each other and managers with a variety of staff members. Ask for input and suggestions on ways to improve processes and your business overall.
