Managing poor performance
The key word is the first word, MANAGING. Employees who don’t perform to expectations are frustrating. Most of our clients are small to medium sized businesses and a non performing staff member has a pretty big impact, not only on the performance of the business, but also the morale of the other employees.
Sometimes it is the very “smallness” of the workforce that stops employers from dealing with the non performance issues. Often there are fears that confronting the issues will lead to an unpleasantness in the workplace. More often though we find that employers are not prepared to manage their staff to high performance.
There are a many things that can be done to increase workplace performance, so many in fact that I am going to take one issue a week.
This week, let’s review your selection or hiring practices. The best way to have high performing staff is to employ people with the skills that are required to do the tasks required. But there’s a bit more to it than just being capable of doing the task. Your employees ideally should share the values that your company has (do you in fact know what these are-can you articulate them?). They should “fit” your organisation. Click here to get Boost’s guide to hiring.
Just a final word on hiring. I assist a lot of people prepare for interviews. I always tell them that most employers are not particularly good interviewers (they may be excellent accountants or plumbers, but they’re poor interviewers). Don’t be one of these poor interviewers.
Before the interview, prepare yourself.
- Read the CV of each applicant carefully.
- Highlight areas that you want the candidate to expand on.
- Ask them about situations or experiences that they have had and how they handled them.
- Ask them how they might handle a scenario that you have at your workplace
- LET THEM TALK, you won’t find out about them if you do all the talking. Instead of telling them about your business, ask them what they know about your business.
Don’t forget to get your free guide to hiring. Getting the right people can save an awful lot of time and trouble (and money) down the line. Next time, we’ll talk about induction!