The relationship between employers and employees has changed significantly over the years, with more focus on well-being and mental health in the office.
For instance, did you know that 40% of UK employers offered employees access to an in-house gym or subsidised gym membership?
Although, there’s still a lot of work to be done when improving employee performance. But, it takes work to approach employees with criticism as some people need help to receive feedback.
Learning to improve performance in the workplace is about understanding employee needs. Plus, it’s about implementing small changes to running a business in a way that helps everyone.
Keep reading to learn more.
How to tell an employee they need to improve
If you need to tell an employee that they need to improve, you need to start by identifying the root cause of the problem. Before you can improve performance, you have to nail down the issue.
Depending on the employee, productivity levels often drop because of personal issues like grief or mental health.
Managing employees is not just about hitting sales numbers; you need to take the time to understand personal situations. And circumstances can change suddenly, so you need to be prepared.
You can find out the root of the problem by asking the employee and organising a one-to-one meeting.
Schedule a private meeting
Publically discussing your employee’s performance challenges can lead to gossiping and other issues disrupting the work culture. Never address employee performance in a space where other staff members can overhear.
Schedule a one-to-one meeting with your employee and host the meeting in privacy, virtually or in a private meeting room. Using discretion creates a safe space for your people to feel comfortable and express what’s been affecting their workflow.
Here’s a top tip, keep it casual. Take your employee out of the office for a coffee/tea, connect with them on a human level, and provide precise and constructive feedback.
Improve your emotional intelligence
It’s important to reflect on your behaviour when trying to improve performance group goals. Most of the time, employers overlook emotional intelligence.
You can take courses on emotional intelligence and build better skills when talking with employees about productivity. It’s essential that you’re calm and patient when talking to employees about their performance.
But being calm can be challenging for everyone. So, it’s good to attend workshops for employers, read books, and take the time to improve your interpersonal skills when developing your business.
Although having open conversations is one way to help employees improve performance, there are other methods you can try to increase workplace productivity.
Give feedback that is constructive and supportive
It will be easier if the leader knows what strengths energises and drain the employee when giving feedback.
For example, if your employee is drained by tasks that require a lot of detail orientation, you can support them in using their core strengths to achieve the task.
Avoid giving criticism that is vague or overly general; instead, be specific about what the employee did well or could do better next time.
Tips to improve performance
Improving work performance amongst employees takes time, and you need to analyse different aspects of your company to see results. For example, you should be monitoring metrics regularly.
If you have a large business, it can take a lot of work to sit down with every employee and uncover what is causing their performance issues. So, analysing metrics is a great way to stay on top of numbers and observe weaknesses.
Plus, you can keep all the information in one place and browse the data when you’re building new business strategies.
1. Focus on your goals
A great tip for improving performance in the workplace is to stay focused on your goals. When several people work on the same tasks daily, losing track of the primary goal is easy.
This is why it’s essential that you use visual aids and online software to keep the morale high amongst your staff. You can hang up maps to track progress in offices or send motivational emails every week. The main thing is that you stay centred on goals and focus the direction of your team towards a common result. But, employees need a little extra help from time to time.
So, it’s up to employers to provide support and encouragement along the way.
2. Don’t forget about accountability
Holding employees accountable for their mistakes and failures when meeting deadlines and goals is equally important. This doesn’t mean you need to shame staff members, but accountability is vital.
For example, if your productivity rates are decreasing, it’s a good idea to hold a team meeting to discuss the issues. This allows you to raise concerns without targeting specific people.
Otherwise, you could face other challenges, such as a lack of commitment to job positions and complaints about office culture. So, you must treat criticism compassionately and remind people of their strengths.
After all, you can only run a successful team if people feel inspired by the company.
3. Provide incentives for the team
Finally, offering incentives is a guaranteed way to help employees improve performance instantly. Everyone likes being rewarded for hard work, so offering staff incentives goes a long way.
The type of incentive will vary based on the size of your company. However, you can find something for any size business; it’s just about thinking creatively.
For instance, larger organisations can offer monetary bonuses, where small businesses can hand out gift bags at the end of a busy work season.
You can also time incentives around holiday seasons, such as Christmas, Halloween, and Summer, and theme your gifts to suit the different occasions. Alternatively, you can give personalised gifts like handmade mugs or tote bags to bring to work. Often, employees need to feel valued and seen when you’re trying to increase performance rates.
Start with these tips, and you’ll see a transformation among your staff members. You can use our platform to help you along the way!
4. Challenge your employees
Boredom is avoided by challenging work, which is just what is required to boost employee performance. You feel as though you are making a difference while you are working on something important.
This can boost a worker’s confidence and self-esteem while also improving performance. Employees perform better when they are aware of your confidence and trust in them.
Everyone deserves to feel strong
When you’re helping an employee to improve performance, it’s essential that you remember that everyone has their superpower.
To begin, you should address concerns with kindness and remind people what they are doing well. Then, you can schedule a meeting to discuss performance issues and come up with solutions for the future.
But you don’t have to do it all alone.
Our platform offers a strengths assessment, called Strengthscope®, which supports you with people development so your business can keep thriving for years to come.
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