Employee Performance | Managing Employees

Stop Supporting Mediocre Performance?

Managers can be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and skills required under their umbrella. Sometimes, rather than coach an employee, a manager will elect to hope their performance gets better. Other times, the thought of having to hire a replacement and train them, it seems better to keep the known one and accept mediocre performance. Or maybe just uncomfortable confronting an employee and wait until the performance or behavior becomes a significant problem?

You are faced with a lot of decisions when managing employees, though how you deal with underperforming employees impacts you, your team and the company. When an employee’s performance consistently comes in under a standard, they won’t change unless you intervene and start the coaching or in some cases counseling process.

Employees Missing Deadlines?

By pat, No Comments

You have a big deliverable and are dependent on several people to do their part and on time. Yet, you have one team member that is late with their portion of the work. If it’s a one time performance issue, then you can check in to understand what caused the delay. If it’s a chronic issue, you need to handle this issue with the employee immediately.

I worked for a tech company that employed a database expert who was always behind on his deliverable dates. He was really good so the project manager included the anticipated delay into the project plan. When he delivered his portion of the project, the quality and consistency was excellent. Managers work hard to keep high quality performance employees.

Do You Have a Low Performing Employee?

By pat, No Comments

All managers eventually bump into an employee whose performance is not up to expectations. Maybe it’s a temporary issue with the person, or you observe a pattern occurring that impacts the productivity of your department. When you manage employees, you have to handle this issue quickly, otherwise you are setting standards at a lower bar and your responsibility is set performance expectations.

If it’s a high performer who had a bad week, check in to see if they have any work issues and need help with solutions. Sometimes it’s just a bad week, yet you can’t afford to let it slide. Calling an informal meeting allows you to work closely with this employee without making it a major performance issue.

Are Employees Using Your Time?

By pat, No Comments

What is the cost to your company when employees are late, on personal phone calls, texting or surfing the internet? If you have a lot of employees, this cost can be signficant. How do you handle an employee who uses your time? How much flexibility do you have with employees who are not working but rather handling personal business?

“Employee Time Theft – You Can’t Afford to Ignore It” on DetroitBusinessLaw.com write about this issue. Do the math and see how much you are potentially losing each year to employees who use your time.

Is Absenteeism a Problem?

By pat, No Comments

Does absenteeism plague your department? Chronic absenteeism is indicative of a problem and needs to be address. Is it just one employee or do you find that Mondays and Fridays you are short staffed? Check out the following and see where you can problem solve this issue:

“Five Tips for Managing Employee Absenteeism” by Kimberly Mashburn-Lee on Pacific Resources. She provides a simple review of the potential solutions to help you reduce productivity issues.

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