PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Performance improvement is the process of:

1. identifying and analyzing important organizational and individual performance gaps,

2. planning for future performance improvement, designing and developing cost-effective and ethically justifiable interventions to close performance gaps,

3. implementing the interventions, and 4. evaluating the financial and non-financial

results.

Employee productivity is a major concern for employers and lower productivity cannot be blamed on the employee entirely.

A lot of it has to do with the environment at the work place, and the work conditions along with a series of factors that define the work culture.

Employers have to implement wide spread changes in their setup to improve the productivity of their work force.

Employee talent is a valuable asset for a company or organization, and it needs to be tapped to its fullest by keeping the employees motivated to perform and deliver the results they are qualified for and capable of.

Employers may often believe that once they have recruited the best talent in the field, the results will inevitably follow.

THE NEED OF PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS. The need for commitment to ongoing

performance improvement, whether personal or business related is something we all need to accept and make it an integral part of everyday behavior.

Change and accepting the need for ongoing improvement is very much a matter of “self perception” in relation to what it is we want to portray to our clients.

The standard we want to set and the objective to which we aspire will be related to the vision and values we have set for our companies, departments, personal lives, municipalities, provinces and so on. WE must want to be the best and we must want to improve our service.

HOW DO WE GO ABOUT IMPROVING PERFORMANCE?1. Admit there is a problem

2. Isolate specific problem issues

3. Establish a base line or starting point for objectives

4. Decide on a target range – Minimum and maximum range of performance

5. Set the goals and objectives that inspire employees

6. Sell the objectives and get buy in

7. Review progress – how are we doing?

8. Communicate and give feedback

9. Decide on remedial action if necessary

10. Empower, train mentor and coach employees

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PROCESS

Performance Management is an on-going process focused on reinforcing high performance or improving substandard (poor) performance to ensure a workforce that can meet business objectives.

The Performance Improvement component of the Performance Management Process consists of both informal actions and formal actions.

INFORMAL ACTIONS Coaching and Counseling.

The objective of coaching is to help the employee recognize -- and solve -- the problem early on.

When a problem occurs or begins to develop regarding work performance, the manager should discuss the situation with the employee before it becomes serious.

During such a discussion, the manager should explain exactly what the performance expectation is and specifically how the employee is failing to meet it.

Once the employee agrees (or at least understands) that he or she is accountable for meeting expectations, the employee and manager should jointly explore steps the employee might take to ensure he or she meets expectations in the future.

Ideally, the employee and manager will agree on the approach that will be taken to

FORMAL ACTIONS The formal actions for performance

improvement include an Oral Reminder, a Written Reminder, and a Final Warning accompanied by a Decision-Making Leave.

At each step, managers must meet with the employee. Managers should consult with the Human Resource Generalist for assistance before initiating formal action.

STEP 1 - ORAL REMINDER The Oral Reminder is a coaching session in which

the manager and employee discuss the problem, clarify expectations and develop solutions that will lead to improvement.

The employee will be asked to commit to correcting the performance problem and will be told that this is an Oral Warning which is the first step of the formal Performance Improvement Process.

The employee will also be informed of the consequences if the problem is not resolved. Supervisors should discuss with the next level of supervision.

STEP 2 - WRITTEN REMINDER If, after the Oral Warning, performance does not

improve to the level necessary to meet expectations or if performance continues to decline, a Written Reminder session will be conducted.

During this session, the employee will be reminded of prior commitments that have not been met.

Performance expectations will be clarified and steps for improvement developed.

The supervisor should seek to obtain the employee's commitment to resolve the problem, if possible.

Consequences for failure to correct the problem should be stated and the employee should be told that this is the second step of the formal Performance Improvement Process.

Initiation of this step requires the concurrence of the next level of management.

STEP 3 - FINAL WARNING If, after the Written Reminder, performance does

not improve to the level necessary to meet expectations, or if performance continues to decline, a Final Warning will be given.

A session will be held in which the employee will be reminded of prior commitments that have not been met and performance expectations will be clarified.

The employee will then be given one day off with pay (a Decision-Making Leave) during which time he or she will decide whether he or she can meet performance expectations.

Initiation of this step requires the concurrence of the Division Director and review with the Director of Human Resources.

The employee will be told of the consequences for failure to correct the problem, which, in most cases, would be termination of employment.

DURATION OF STEPS The duration of each step (Oral Warning,

Written Warning, Final Warning) will vary depending on the performance issue and on the employee's progress.

Normally, each step would last from 30 to 90 days. No matter what the stated duration of the step, additional action (the next step or implementation of consequences) may be taken before the stated end of the step if the performance continues to decline noticeably or the employee does not make a good faith effort to meet expectations

. Actions should be more immediate and rehabilitative efforts abbreviated for employees who have been with the company or in the given job for only a short time (< 1 year).

By acting promptly and decisively, the organization can avoid long-term problems.

FACTORS THAT CAN HELP TO IMPROVE THE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY AT THE WORKPLACE ARE

1.      Accountability- Every employee needs to be well aware that he is accountable for his actions and decisions, and he can neither pass the buck or pass the blame to someone else.

This will help him work more meticulously , take cautious rather than reckless decisions, and not take advantage of his place, position or relationship with his superiors.

2.      Follow up- Employers often set targets and feel their job is done. No, every target or milestone set needs to be followed up as well, to see if the progress is sufficient and if not, whether any interim measures can be taken before it is too late to salvage a situation.

It also keeps the employee on track,  ensuring there is consistent effort throughout the lifetime of the project

3.      Manage the work force but avoid micromanagement- It is well known that a large pool of employees does need to be managed, provided direction and given assistance.

But with this they must also be trusted, given freedom to operate in their style and adopt measures which they think are the best to deliver results.

This freedom to act as they deem fit helps to keep them encouraged, motivated and happy in the belief that they are trusted

4.      Encourage, motivate, reward and recognize- The employer must ensure that on his part he always has words of encouragement for his staff.

Encouraging them helps them move forward and do even better, and makes the worker feel happy.

Rewards, and other ways of keeping employees happy makes them feel that their effort is being recognized and that they are needed by the company.

Without these, they may soon start looking for greener pastures and new jobs.

5.      Reach out to employees by seeking them out- Every employee loves to feel he has the ears of the management who will recognize him and listen to what he says.

Display of inter personal skills in which the boss appears humane and one of them, rather than a larger than life, distant figure, helps to have employees warm up to him and feel happy working for him.

A bit of effort to reach out helps them all do better. If this extends beyond the work place it may prove to be even more encouraging to increase employee productivity.

6.      Demand realistic targets- employers need to set realistic goals that are within the limits of achievement. While an aggressive employer may want his people to outstretch themselves to achieve farfetched goals, it may also burn them out.

7.      Team work- Team work always helps in increasing workplace productivity since there is more input in the form of more ideas and minds at work.

Working alone is not always the happiest situation either, especially in the field.

Successful team building and working together is bound to bring out the best out of the employees who may also then compete with each other ensuring the business is the winner.

8.      Ensure that people enjoy their work- The best performing employee is the happy employee, and the employer has to find  ways of making his people happy.

Besides working conditions and the work culture implemented, he has to devise ways of making the work seem challenging and interesting rather than mundane and boring.

9.      Break the monotony and rotate- While employers assign tasks according to an employee’s core competence, even the task they are best at, can make an employee bored and his work seem monotonous.

This monotony can be broken with rotation and giving people new tasks and exposure to other divisions.

This adds their learning and helps them get a holistic view of the business.

10.  Courses and improvement options- Employees are delighted when they can enhance their skills and get additional learning opportunities sponsored by the employer.

This helps them learn, feel indebted for the money being spent on them, which also adds to their resume, and are obliged to perform better by applying all the knowledge gained in these courses.

11.  Spend less time on meetings and more on action- The current trend to have more meetings and discussion rather than spending more time working to achieve results, leads to precious productive time loss.

Meetings for reviews and sharing of ideas can be limited and kept short. Employees should have more time to show results.

12.  Tools and equipment to raise productivity- Finally, the workplace must have the best machinery, devices and equipment that yield error free results in the minimum possible time.

Efficient electronic equipment with no connectivity issues and breakdowns will help to save precious time.

They should take the place of paper work, and yield fast results. Some of these include:

Smart phones Laptops Tablet computers Latest applications and software that

offers quick connectivity and access Digital recorders-these help to record

thoughts and new ideas when they strike, when no paper is available and the fear is of forgetting the idea

Bluetooth to stay connected Personal digital assistants or PDA’s GPS to stay on track on the road

THE END… .