Tips For Improving Employee Performance

Underperforming employee? The answer’s simple. Berate them in front of their colleagues, dock their pay and beat them with a stick. That will kickstart the lazy nuisance into action! Of course, before you take that statement too seriously, it won’t. You will face legal action, for starters, and you will breed resentment in your workplace. There are better ways to manage your employees, tactics that will get to the bottom of why the employee is underperforming in the first place. Find out the root cause, and everybody will be happier in your place of business.

Consider the following.

Talk to the employee

Instead of scolding him on his poor performance, book time in for a 1 on 1 meeting. While you don’t want to get too far into their personal life, there may still be issues outside of work that are causing the problem. This is particularly true if the employee’s performance level has fallen below his usual standards. On the other hand, they may feel under equipped to do the job at hand. An accredited online mba may be the answer, or in-house training on a specific area. By talking to your employee, you will get a better understanding, hopefully giving you both the means to move forwards with confidence and increased performance levels.

Look at yourself

Could you be the problem? Maybe so, perhaps if you’re the cruel tyrant we alluded to in our introduction. You may expect too much from your employees. Typical traits include giving them more work than they can reasonably handle, imposing strict deadlines guaranteed to cause stress and mistakes, or having too high an expectation of what is possible from your staff. What can you do to make things easier for them? You could outsource some elements of the workload so as not to drive your poor employees into the ground. You might also look at your general attitude and management skills. If you are the problem, make the necessary changes for all of your sakes.

Consider the work environment

Quite often, there are overriding factors in the work environment that can affect your employee’s performance level. Technology may be old and outdated. The aesthetics may be drab and dull, affecting your employee’s mood level. There may be an all work and no play mentality, with no space for fun or relaxation during break times. Overtime may be a common thing, and your employees can struggle to stay focussed with the long hours. If any of those things are true, then it’s important to turn things around. Give your employees new tech; computers etc. that aren’t guaranteed to cause frustration. Brighten up the workspace. Give your staff a dedicated break room to destress and unwind. A Netflix subscription with access to the US database could be a fun addition as well. Consider letting your staff work from home occasionally, if their job description befits the option. Some simple steps can make all the differences to the working day and your employee’s performance level.

Finally

Of course, none of the above may be true, and you may have a lazy employee to deal with. If so, follow policy to discipline your member of staff accordingly. On the other hand, you may find the answer in the points made above. Whatever the case, take the necessary steps to improve the performance from all your employees, increasing both their satisfaction as well as yours.

Provided by Cascade Building Services, that provide commercial building cleaning services