This article first appeared in the February, 2003 edition of the Jacksonville Business Journal
I recently contracted to have some work done on my house by a small company. The owner was personally doing the project along with two helpers. I liked that. When the owner is present you usually get a better job.
He sized up the job, gave assignments and everyone began working. After a few hours I wandered around to see how things were going. Some of the work was sloppy, done incorrectly, and would need to be re-done. I went to the owner and asked him to look at it. I expected him to see the problem instantly and work with his helper to fix it. Instead, he complained to me about how hard it was to get good help, how young people don't care, and how poorly schools are doing their job.
Frankly, I wasn't interested. I interrupted the conversation and told him that I expected him to be fully responsible for all the work done by his company - regardless of who did it - and expected the poor work to be re-done. He redid the work and the final job was acceptable.
The Leader is Responsible
This business owner - the leader - did not understand that the performance of all his employees is a responsibility that he cannot abdicate or delegate. He cannot blame others. He cannot bemoan the younger generation or our educational institutions. Every leader is responsible for the performance of all the employees in his/her organization.
The good news is that there are a number of tools available to help ensure good performance. The following list of tools may be helpful.
Selection
A bad hiring decision will come back to haunt you. Think through the skills you want before you begin the hiring process. Interview and select carefully. The time you invest in getting the right person for the job will reward you many times over.
Training
Don't expect that people automatically know how to do a job. Don't expect that they can do it because they've watched you a few times. Employees need both classroom and on-the-job training to learn how to do their jobs properly. Investing in training increases efficiency, productivity and quality.
Feedback
Leaders often complain about an employee, yet don't provide specific and direct feedback about their concerns. We excuse the lack of feedback with comments like: "They're very sensitive." "I don't want to offend them." "I'm afraid they'll get mad." "It wouldn't do any good." "They should know better without being told." People cannot improve their performance without feedback. Direct feedback is one of the most powerful performance improvement tools.
Coaching
Coaching is one of the best tools to use on the job. Coaching is provided at the moment it is needed. The coach provides feedback, offers tips or suggestions on how to improve, watches the employee apply these tips and stays until the employee is doing the work correctly. It is action-oriented, done at the moment it is needed, and usually takes only a few minutes. A very powerful tool.
Work Processes or Methods
An error that occurs frequently by one person is most likely a training problem. But if a problem occurs consistently by several people, it is likely a problem in the work process.
I struggled with my local dry cleaner. Sometimes my wife's pants were creased - sometimes not. Whenever they came without the crease I went back to the dry cleaner. They always apologized and re-did them without charge. That cost them money and cost me time and aggravation. They finally realized that they had no way to indicate on the order whether the pants should be creased. They changed their order entry process and the problem ceased.
Make sure you have a well defined work method. Make sure that people know it, are trained on it, use it, and get feedback. A good work process helps create consistent performance.
Compensation
Compensation may be the trickiest tool. We need to pay employees their market value. Below market wages will increase turnover. Higher than market wages affect competitiveness. Understand what your market pays and remain competitive.
I also strongly recommend an incentive component for every job. Incentives are easier to pay because higher performance can mean higher profitability. Higher performing employees are motivated by incentives that are achievable, fair and equitable.
You may not use all these performance tools to the same degree. But they will help you to ensure quality performance of all employees in your organization.
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