Managing Employee Performance
by Dera DeRoche-Jolet

How do you manage employees and keep them enthusiastic and committed to their jobs and your company?

Managing an employee’s performance starts even before a new person walks through your door. Applicants form opinions of your company beginning with the application and interview process. Those who apply and never receive a response back from you will form an opinion about you, as an employer. Their experience with your company will then spread to others by word of mouth.

It’s vital that you start off on the right foot and not lose a possibly great potential member of your team even before they begin. That’s why first interactions and impressions are so important. Your goal is to hire and keep the best people. Remember, candidates are “interviewing” your company too so you don’t want to fail. Will they want to work for your company?

Start by hiring people who have the drive, talents, skills and personality that you need. With the best people, you can then concentrate on developing their talents and managing their performance right from their first day on the job. Is your company prepared to do that?

It takes the right tools, a positive orientation experience, and a training plan. That should be followed with clear goals, understandable directions and frequent feedback. Adding in the chance to grow, the opportunity to develop skills and the likelihood for advancement will create a dedicated, enthusiastic employee.

The goal is to have everyone succeed and improve. In order for that to happen, managers and employees have to work together and communicate to be able to recognize obstacles to success (whether they are from the employee or the way the company is run), and to make plans to overcome those obstacles.

The single most important question is: What things have made your job more difficult, and what do we need to do in the next year to help you become more productive?

When answering the question, the discussion needs to be forward looking, and not just focus on what an employee lacks but should also spotlight things in the company like work flow, work communication, and so on.

Selecting people for their talents, then holding them accountable for their performance will challenge them to reach upward and produce results. On the other hand, employers must provide a work environment that trains employees and fosters motivation. An unmotivated staff will cost you dearly. Develop the resources that will help you create a workplace that encourages employee morale, productivity and motivation. Then treat your employees, as they'd like to be treated.

Communication is the key. Managers should work with all employees to identify and develop their strengths. They should have informal, short talks once every few weeks and can then hold quarterly discussions that are a bit more organized. When the year-end review happens everything should have been discussed before. By that time, there should be an enthusiastic and committed employee and no surprises.