Strategies To Improve Employee Performance

The key to business success is to have fulfilled and productive employees. Imagine that you run the best products or services in the world, but your employees aren’t engaged in delivering services properly or selling products in the right way. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter that your products or services are the best because the ability to achieve your goal as an organization depends mainly on employee performance.

As a manager, you can design workplace structures and supports that help your team prosper. After all, keeping them performing at their best plays a vital role in your company’s long-term success. For instance, a study from last year about remote work has shown productivity is up 47% while working remotely from home. But not all companies are keen on it. However, there are several ways you can increase employee efficiency. So let’s take a look.

1. Train and develop your team

The primary goal of team training is to increase individual procedural knowledge and proficiency in doing a job. Training programs have three general aims: successful training, transfer to the work situation, and long-term use of the position of what was learned. However, team training sessions can vary in length depending on the training needs established by a team leader or manager. 

Implementing programs have many advantages in helping companies reach their strategic goals. Moreover, every successful training and development program includes a component that addresses current and future management needs. In other words, it refers to making your business unique and profitable. 

Training is priceless for both the employees and supervisors because it reconstructs and shapes an organization’s operations and deploys the employees effectively in it. To provide employees with the critical knowledge and skills needed to perform their job, you must train them effectively. 

On the other hand, development centers around making the individual more efficient at a job or capable of facing different challenges and responsibilities. It focuses on the skills that apply to a broader range of situations, such as managing people, decision-making, and thinking creatively. The development basis is to grow more comprehensive skills that can be used in many cases. At the same time, training is typically linked to a particular subject matter and applies to that subject only. 

In a nutshell, training your staff on all levels brings to your company multiple benefits since the key to a successful business is continual growth. 

2. Reward improvement

The motivation of employees is a quintessential factor in the overall performance of an organization, and rewards play a vital role in influencing the employees’ behavior. Usually, employees’ bonuses are based on the performance of individuals and the business as a whole. But a good reward system aims to motivate employees to be hardworking and align their goals with those of their organization.

There are some specific types of reward schemes. So let’s check them out:

  • Base pay

Base pay, also known as basic pay, is the minimum amount an employee receives for working for an organization. For instance, the employee may be paid 5$ per hour for a minimum of 30 hours per week. Another example is the fixed annual salary. The whole idea comes down to the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs aforesaid.

  • Performance-related pay 

Those reward systems where payments are made based on the performance, either of the individual or a team of employees, are called performance-related pay. This type of system motivates employees to push their limits. Therefore it brings a more outstanding contribution to the organization’s goals. 

  • Pension schemes 

Defined benefit pension schemes used to be a widespread form of compensation. The employee pays a pension to former employees based on their final salary and the number of years they worked for the organization. For instance, an employee who works for 30 years for the same company would receive a pension equal to 30/50ths of their final salary from the date of retirement to the date of death. 

In any case, these types of schemes leave companies uncertain, often with debts. Consequently, many companies waived such systems. 

3. Communicate effectively

In business, effective communication means being a good listener and being capable of capturing attention. Moreover, a proficient leader is persuasive in both speaking and writing. 

But how do we communicate effectively? There are some principles of effective communication, such as:

  • Clarity about the purpose;
  • Consistency;
  • Simplicity; 
  • Emphasis on attention;
  • Know your audience;
  • Provide feedback.

Although, business communication is a process that aims to accomplish organizational goals. Its main functions of it are:

  • Instructive function; 
  • Integration function;
  • Informing function;
  • Evaluation function; 
  • Directive function;
  • Image building function;
  • Other functions.

Through these functions, communication exchanges facts, ideas, opinions, and emotions to transmit information about facts and determinable views and opinions, and one’s attitude and frame of mind. Succinctly, the purpose of business communication is to elicit action and to expand human relations. 

4. Keep deadlines realistic

It’s not plain sailing to set realistic deadlines, especially when it comes to project management. There are two possibilities: either you set deadlines for all your projects, but they feel more like a deterrent than a helpful guide to finishing a project, or you don’t set deadlines, so your projects take more time than needed.

Despite that, the psychology behind deadlines is not to waste time on frivolous tasks or gaze out the window. Setting realistic deadlines helps you get your work done on time without dawdling.

Let’s take a look at some tips on how to set deadlines:

  • Make it critical: even if your tasks are not urgent, make them. In this way, you will force people to start working and avoid unpleasant situations when the time runs out. 
  • Use the 80/20 principle: it is also known as Pareto Principle, and it states that 80 percent of an outcome stems from 20 percent of its causes. Thus, the value for optimal results maximizes, and the most productive resources are identified.  
  • Set reminders: this habit helps you to prevent that feeling of panic when you realize that your assignment is due in a few days. 
  • Use Hofstadter’s Law: the tasks are always unpredictable. In other words, they take longer than expected. So try to add an hour or even two to what you think is realistic. 

Deadlines play a vital role in the operational fluidity of an organization, and it monitors the tasks to ensure successful projects. 

5. Embrace flexibility

One of the most contemporary HR trends is flexible working. It is an attractive prospect for almost any employee because they can choose their hours. On the other hand, many employers are still unwilling to embrace flexibility due to a fear of reduced productivity. Unfortunately, the Zenefits survey reflected that 53% of respondents said no official flexible work policy exists at their company. 

Besides that, a recent survey done by YouGov found that 89% of employees considered flexibility in work to be a chief motivator of their productivity. At a time, a study by the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) found that flexible working advantages can result in higher productivity and employee satisfaction. Notably, 89% of companies report better retention by offering flexible work options. 

Therefore, flexible working-time accounts where hours can vary above or below standard hours without extra compensation. Embrace flexibility because it brings you many benefits as an employer, one of which is career longevity for your employees. 

Round up

Therefore, flexible working-time accounts where hours can vary above or below standard hours without extra compensation. Embrace flexibility because it brings you many benefits as an employer, one of which is career longevity.

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