Work continues to evolve at dizzying speeds, and technology enables us to become more efficient than ever before. And yet, managing employees\u2019 performance and productivity has never been more challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can<\/em> implement processes for improving employee performance, though, and the best solutions are often simple ones. Better communication, clear expectations, and feedback go a long way toward improving work performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, improving employee performance requires intentionality and commitment to supporting employees in their day-to-day performance. Here\u2019s how to implement measurements, processes, and cultural norms to improve employee performance at your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you can improve employee performance, you need to set clear goals to reach and develop metrics to measure the employee\u2019s progress toward those goals. Here\u2019s how to define high performance for each role at your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Improving performance may require developing employees\u2019 skills and competencies. But before you can set learning goals for each employee, you need to identify the human characteristics that drive success in the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identify employees in the role who you classify as high-performing. What makes their performance stand out from that of their peers? How does their output differ from their less productive peers in the same role? Assess these employees to identify the skills, competencies, and traits they\u2019re bringing forward to improve performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at your top sales representatives, for example. What traits are they bringing to their sales calls that drive better results? High emotional intelligence and active listening may help them pinpoint customer problems, for instance, so they can sell solutions that solve those problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve identified the skills and competencies needed by each employee to be their best in the role, you can set a baseline for performance and begin to fill gaps through learning and development programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To define high performance, you have to first determine the potential impact of a role. Start by reviewing job descriptions to prioritize the essential outputs for each role. Those are the aspects you\u2019ll want to maximize to improve employee performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at the role itself (not the employee in it) to identify which outputs from the role have the most strategic value. For example, an administrative assistant\u2019s objective is to keep the office running efficiently and effectively. What specific outputs lead to that outcome? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve prioritized each role\u2019s tasks and duties by their strategic value, you can help employees in those roles focus their best efforts on the outputs that drive the greatest value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Managers have historically struggled with performance metrics. When charged with evaluating employee performance, many fall back on perceptions and preferences rather than specific performance outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the absence of clear metrics, managers can be tempted to micromanage employees to \u201cknow\u201d that they\u2019re working. This might prompt a manager to call or email an employee frequently to determine whether or not they\u2019re working or add unnecessary oversight to their work processes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Without clear criteria, managers will be left guessing whether employees have performed adequately. This can introduce a bias toward favored employees. For example, in a hybrid work environment, a manager might evaluate an employee that they see in person as a higher performer than an employee who is fully remote, even if their outputs are equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To support managers and produce fair performance evaluations, managers must assess performance based on the outcomes achieved. That\u2019s a process that HR should own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve set a performance baseline and identified each role\u2019s strategic impact, you need to drill down to the specific outcomes each employee in the role must consistently produce to be considered high-performing. If a project manager\u2019s priority is to use resources effectively to deliver projects on time and within budget, those are the metrics their supervisor will review to assess performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With clear metrics based on outcomes in place, managers can easily see whether employees are meeting their performance goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The greatest opportunities for improving performance often come from daily management practices. People generally want <\/em>to improve, but they need managers to be present in the moment with the support and resources they need to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are nine best practices for improving performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A solid basis in company values can act as an anchor for employee decision-making and inspire better performance. But if your values are too vague or abstract, employees won\u2019t recognize how they intersect with their role or how to apply them in their daily performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To bring company values home, employees must understand how to live them in their daily tasks. For each role reporting to them, managers should connect specific company values with particular behaviors, actions, or decisions that the role entails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Help train managers on how the company values should be enacted on their teams. Start by helping them recognize how to live the values in their own work. If your company values integrity, for example, ask managers to consider how they might practice integrity in their daily interactions with their reports and how that impacts their<\/em> performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When managers can learn to apply the values themselves, they can impart this skill to their teams to improve their employees\u2019 performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clear objectives are key to improving employee performance. Employees can\u2019t progress toward their goals if they aren\u2019t confident about those goals. And if those desired outcomes aren\u2019t defined on the front end, employees won\u2019t know how to prioritize their workloads<\/a> to focus on the tasks that create the most value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Managers need to help employees define and clarify their performance objectives<\/a>. Often, poor performance results from poorly defined goals or a misalignment between what the employee perceives as their priorities and what the manager wants them to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Help managers practice communicating goals and expectations by distilling an employee\u2019s tasks down to their priorities. Implement labels denoting the urgency of each task and the order in which employees should complete them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strong communication is key to unlocking improved work performance. If employees can\u2019t get in touch with their managers or communicate openly with them, misunderstandings can create misalignment, resulting in employees focusing their energy on the wrong places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To improve employee performance, managers must first improve their communication skills. Managers should engage in regular check-ins and conversations with their reports to build relationships and trust with them. With that foundation in place, managers can address performance deficits with employees in a constructive way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have managers set standard communication guidelines among their teams. This should include regular meetings built into each person\u2019s schedule as well as communication preferences for individual team members. Managers can also opt to make use of project management collaboration tools<\/a> to streamline communication among their teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good active listening habits are essential to improving employee performance at work. Managers must be open to hearing each employee\u2019s perspective and concerns regarding their workload, workflow, and priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more effective communication is on the front end, the easier it will be to remove roadblocks in the flow of work. If an employee raises a concern before beginning a task, for instance, a manager who practices good active listening will give thought to a solution before the situation becomes a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes listening to employees requires humility. Managers need to be aware that their role is to enable improved employee performance. There\u2019s no room for ego, a trait in which managers believe they know more about the work than employees do (though that\u2019s rarely the case). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Train managers to listen to employee concerns and suggestions for improvement before<\/em> injecting their own perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Micromanaging can be seen as a sign of distrust in someone\u2019s capabilities, although it\u2019s often simply the result of poor management training. If managers believe the only barometer measuring performance is seeing employees at work or, in the absence of physical offices, micromanaging them, then they\u2019ll end up hovering over their reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But micromanaging causes more performance problems than it solves. If employees don\u2019t feel their manager trusts them, they\u2019re more likely to disengage or only put a half-hearted effort into their work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Train managers to manage the work based on outcomes<\/a> rather than micromanaging employees. If each role has clear metrics denoting performance excellence, then managers won\u2019t need to micromanage their reports to confirm the work is being done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employee development is an ongoing necessity for improving performance at work. Circumstances, tasks, and job descriptions change, and employees must be reskilled<\/a> or upskilled<\/a> to keep pace. As employees start working on a task, they and their managers should work together to identify skills gaps that could affect their performance, both now and in the long run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But it can\u2019t stop there: Be sure that managers can point employees to learning and development resources to help them turn their weaknesses into strengths. Set milestones for learning objectives to help measure the employee\u2019s progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHow Do You Define High Performance?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Benchmark employees to set a baseline<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Connect individual outputs to strategic value<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Develop metrics for governing performance<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
9 Steps to Improve Employee Performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Connect company values with performance<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Define objectives\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Communicate effectively<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Make time to listen<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t micromanage<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Train and develop<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Avoid performance improvement plans<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n