4 Critical Steps In Achieving Improved Employee Performance

Ensuring that your employees’ performance is strong enough to take you to the next level and achieve your business ambitions is vital to success. In the words of Doug Conant, former President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company, “To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.”

Everyone within your team can be a ‘star player. You need to understand what factors influence their performance and find ways to help them grow within their roles.

Getting the best out of your staff is both an emotional and practical matter. So I suggest you take the following steps to help an underperforming employee get to the heart of their issue and then work with them to establish a plan of action.

Investigate the source of the problem

You won’t know what is causing the employee to underperform until you speak to them. Employees will be more open with you when you ask with curiosity and welcome feedback. Recognition is vital in motivating employees. Even if your employee is falling short, try to acknowledge something that they have done well.

Create a performance improvement plan

Once you establish the reasons hindering their performance, work together to create a realistic and measurable performance improvement plan. Try to find a balance between giving the employee a challenge but not making them feel overwhelmed. Also, when your employee knows what you will measure, they can check that their performance is meeting expectations.

Provide regular constructive feedback and coaching

Sometimes the best-laid plans go astray. So, it’s essential to give your employee a review date before the completion date so that you can advise them on how to overcome any obstacles they may be encountering. Don’t wait until the formal review to provide constructive feedback or recognition; keep the conversation going to ensure employees are engaged and inspired.

Foster an inclusive work culture

Happy employees create a healthy business, so lead your team with clear goals, energy and appreciation and drive their enthusiasm by enabling collaboration and an openness to their ideas.

By creating a warm, trusting and encouraging work culture, you will see an improvement not only in terms of employee performance. It will also improve employee retention because who would want to leave your dynamic and thriving business!

Finally, it is essential to ensure that we don’t tolerate non-performance. Hence it is vital to ensure that the employee has the willingness to improve. 

Suppose the employee is not willing based on attitude; it is essential to let them move on from the company so that it doesn’t affect the morale and culture.