What Are Your Employees Doing, or Not?

Our last post tied together how Employee Engagement is impacted by an effective performance management process. I ended with the question, “How do you engage your employees”? As I continue to do research on best practices for creating ideal performance management cultures, I couldn’t help but share this wonderful InfoGraphic from the National Business Research Institute, Inc. (NBRI) located in Dallas, Texas.

The power of visuals can underscore the importance of Employee Engagement and this InfoGraphic displays just that. NBRI highlights a couple of key areas that all company leadership needs to understand about their employees:

1.      Only 1 in 3 employees are engaged at work. Does your organization have a structured way to measure the contribution of employees and provide valuable performance feedback?

2.      The #1 reason employees leave a company is the lack of career advancement. How does your organization document career plans and identify employee resources for skill development?

3.      How do un-engaged employees spend their time? As your leadership team walks through the company building and participates in conference calls with employees, do they notice how many employees are giving 100%?

Employee engagement is an indication of “how “an employee approaches their work every day. Their individual mission can be ignited by the consistent communication with the supervisors, both formal and informal, to discuss how they are performing towards the goals and how to address any shortcomings.

Responsibilities for engagement are at all levels: Top Management, Supervisors and Employees. Everyone must have a sense of ownership to make certain the process to address questions and concerns is utilized. More importantly, a clear communication of the company goals, tasks and accomplishments provide the energy needed for the employee engine at work well each day.

Think about your interactions with your employees.  Do they want to keep pushing towards company goals or get away as soon as they can?  The leadership team makes the difference in shaping the culture.  Are you reinforcing, during your coaching sessions throughout the year, that your employees matter?  Do you look for ways to delegate responsibility to employees who expressed, during their performance evaluation, the desire to grow and move up in the company?  Most importantly, are YOU having that experience with your manager?  Many times we duplicate what we experience.

Need a great idea for your next supervisor meeting? Bring this InfoGraphic on Employee Engagement and begin the important dialogue on spending quality coaching time with employees. Imagine how meaningful the employee performance management process would be if each manager began their discussions with a review of this InfoGraphic http://ow.ly/85pep. It’s all a matter of perspective for us to understand why providing feedback makes such a difference to the engagement level of employees.

Can Employee Engagement really make a difference in the quality of your performance discussions? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Does it make a difference to you?

About Bullseye Evaluation: Looking for a system to make Performance Management a strategic advantage?  BullseyeEvaulation offers a web based solution to help shift the culture of expectations for your company. At Bullseye Performance Management Systems, we believe HR Professionals are operational and strategic partners when managing an organization. 

Performance Management – “What’s Engagement Got To Do With It?”

If you haven’t heard the two words, “Employee Engagement” lately, you have got to get out more.  As managers and HR professionals, we need to understand how our traditional systems can reflect one of the top management concerns today, Keeping and Engaging Talented Employees.  Check the multitude of workplace surveys today and analyze the results as it compares a non-engaged to an engaged workforce.  Simply put, engaged employees know how to make a difference every day they come to work.

So what does being engaged have to do with Performance Management……Talent Management? Everything.  The pendulum is swinging towards meaningful conversations characterized by coaching and mentoring employees.  When employees leave their performance evaluation with their manager, there are three ways to tell that “engagement” was a priority of the overall conversation.

1. The employee understands how their contribution fits in the big picture and how they add value.
   When a manager takes the time to give genuine feedback about employee performance, what they did well and how they can improve, it paints a visual goal of company connection.  Silo management is not an option.  Employees must know they are connected to each and every department, that each email they send or customer call they answer makes a difference in the boardroom.  No insignificant efforts.

2. Successfully completed development goals discussed with the employee are rewarded.
   If the previous conversation requested ways for the employee to gain additional skills and they had those experiences, new feedback and constructive comments, to get better, will be well received.  Employees will know that their personal investment in their skills and knowledge will allow them to be placed on special project teams or assume interim positions of leadership as a reward for completing their developmental goals.  They have confidence that management has kept their word.  Trust is invaluable.

3. The employee seems truly vested in company success by assuming personal ownership.
   Most employees want to do a good job and are willing to live up to the expectations managers set for them.  When employees take their roles seriously and demonstrate their drive to “Exceed Expectations”, you have a key player that will drive your company in the right direction. Employees want clarity so they can take smart risks to execute their jobs successfully.  More than my career, it’s my organization.

Think about your interactions with your employees.  Do they want to keep pushing towards company goals or get away as soon as they can?  The leadership team makes the difference in shaping the culture.  Are you reinforcing, during your coaching sessions throughout the year, that your employees matter?  Do you look for ways to delegate responsibility to employees who expressed, during their performance evaluation, the desire to grow and move up in the company?  Most importantly, are YOU having that experience with your manager?  Many times we duplicate what we experience.

As you complete your performance evaluations of your team, think about what you are reinforcing.  Remain on the effective end of “Engagement”.  Don’t sugar coat feedback, that doesn’t help.  Be meaningful, be respectful and be sincere.

After all, engaged employees are much easier to manage and that makes a happily engaged, You!

Do you have some tips on how you Engage Your Employees? – share some thoughts with our readers.

About Bullseye Evaluation: Looking for a system to make Performance Management a strategic advantage?  Bullseye Evaluation offers a web based solution to help shift the culture of expectations for your company. At Bullseye Performance Management Systems, we believe HR Professionals are operational and strategic partners when managing an organization. 

Creating a Coaching Environment

Watching sports is one of the greatest ways to see a group of individuals from diverse educational, economic and family backgrounds come together for a common goal.  Winning is the ultimate paycheck, but playing smart and leaving their heart on the field makes a player hold their head high….. are there any applications to today’s workplaces?

Employees at Zappos get it.  If they were playing in the NFL, they would no doubt be in the playoffs each year.  What’s the difference?  They know how to create an environment that invites creativity, risk taking, ownership and feedback. Excellent combinations for building a strong team

Companies don’t start off on day one doing it all right; they grow and learn from their mistakes.  So what type of coaching environment are you creating as a leader in your organization? 

Great company coaches have a wonderful opportunity to showcase the employee talent of an organization, no doubt, one of the most important company assets.  If each day you manage your staff was like watch a team practice, what would it say about your coaching skills? 

Top Skills of a Great Coach

1.    Vision – A coach can watch a player demonstrate a strong desire to be a winner.  The coach knows that with the right type of drills and instruction, the raw talent is there and the player will go far.  What do you see in your employees?  Do you see their potential?  Can you see the fire in their eyes to make a valuable contribution to the company?  Everyone isn’t a star, but everyone is a team member.

2.   Proper Assessment – It takes a team of coaches to run the drills and give each player multiple chances to exercise their skills.  An honest assessment of a player’s strengths and development areas puts them in the best position to help the team.  How often do you take the time to observe your employees to deliver a proper employee evaluation?  Are you willing to tell your employees if they are in the wrong “spot”?  Can you point them in the right direction when they are open to feedback about the performance?

3.   Challenge Stations – In order to take players to a higher level, stations are changed to make them step up and do things they didn’t know they were capable of doing.  Coaches expect mistakes and during that time, they guide the efforts until the higher standard becomes the norm.  When was the last time you looked around to challenge some of your best employees and gave them a stretch performance goal?  Fostering an environment where employees can take calculated risks and learn from their mistakes benefits the entire organization.  Every grows tired of the same performance evaluation that says “exceeds expectations” on each category.  That says one thing, “I am not growing my skills”.  Help employees seek out tasks and projects that will develop new skills valued by the company.  Be there to clarify the expectations and techniques and your team stock has improved tremendously.

4.   Builds Bench Strength – All players can’t play at one time, but all players must be ready and confident to play.  Are you rotating special assignments and delegated tasks to build your whole team?  Do you demonstrate a commitment to each team member and not just your “favorites”?  When employees know their time is coming, they can be patient.  They will execute the daily tasks with a desire to tackle greater responsibilities in the future.

It may seem a bit idealistic to believe each employee comes suited up to win every day….but what do you expect out of your employees?  Do you expect their personal best?  Do you brag about your team?  Are you waiting for the formal employee performance evaluation period to let them know how they are doing, or do you stop by at a random employee’s desk for five minutes in the morning to let them know you appreciate their efforts.  Do you have a “gotcha” mentality or an environment that let’s your employees know that you are all working together towards the same goal?  Great coaches really want the players to win as individuals, doing their best.  When you take care of the individual player, teaching respect, values and ownership to the team, the score at the end of the game takes care of itself!

Creating a coaching environment is a daily commitment, it’s a mindset of value and it works.  Get fired up, give great feedback, take time to give meaningful coaching during performance evaluations and be recognized for having the best team!

About Bullseye Evaluation: Looking for a system to make Performance Management a strategic advantage? Bullseye Evaluation offers a web based solution to help shift the culture of expectations for your company process. At Bullseye Performance Management Systems, we believe HR Professionals are operational and strategic partners when managing an organization.

The Ideal Employee Evaluation from My Manager

I have read all the helpful hints and understand how to do my part for a successful employee evaluation session.  Be prepared, Know my goals, Have specific examples.  Seems easy enough.  We all say we want feedback, but we still get a knot in our stomachs when it is time to sit across the table.

To my surprise, the meeting with my manager was not painful.  As a matter of fact, it was a very thorough discussion and I left knowing more about how I am viewed in the company.  What made that discussion so different?  The review in my mind recalled the following observations:

1)  Be Here Now

I’m not sure who coined that phrase, but my manager blocked out all distractions and made sure he was not interrupted.  Our discussion was the only focus for that hour.  He made the choice to value the feedback appointment with  me.

2)   The Form, The Discussion, The Commitment

I completed my self appraisal and he read it.  He highlighted comments I made to review with me.  He presented his review and we discussed the differences in our opinions and gained greater understanding of each other’s perceptions.  I discovered that a couple of risks I took were for the right reasons, but didn’t yield the right results.  We talked about a new approach to gain some consensus around my suggestions.  I thought I would get in trouble for that one.  It turned out to be a great learning situation.  Finally, the commitment.  He shared his commitment to help me learn, grown and challenged me to work towards an even higher level of performance.  My weaknesses, development areas, opportunities, they were all addressed with openness and gave me a sense of direction.  There were even so kudos for some difficult projects I completed.

3)   My Ratings Made Sense

Hard work doesn’t make a performance rating, right results do.  My manager helped me see that improving the way I approach my tasks will help me to gain better results.  The ratings were not a surprise due to the ongoing communication and our company performance management system that captures the details of my measureable results.

4)   Goals and Training

The career goals I have identified with my manager have purpose.  I understand how they fit in the company’s overall goals.  There are many courses our company offers that I haven’t taken advantage of since I have been employed.  Time to quit putting off the online courses I know I need.

5)   Genuine Concern for My Success

We had a transparent conversation, not just about my performance, but some of my manager’s career goals.  I can see how my ability to step up and accomplish more will allow my manager to delegate to me.  There was a sense that he was genuinely interested in my success. 

Overall, the meeting was something I really appreciated.  Sure we had some tense moments, but when it was all said and done, I am going to be a better employee because of it.  Performance appraisal conversations done the right way can make all the difference in world between reading job boards and focusing on career development tasks.

It’s not all a walk in the park, but when two professionals approach the performance discussion with respect and openness, great things can happen. 

Alright managers, how to you stack up?  Can you step back and make a few changes to your approach to your employee coaching sessions?  It’s all a matter of choice.

About Bullseye Evaluation: Looking for a system to make Performance Management a strategic advantage? Bullseye Evaluation offers a web based solution to help shift the culture of expectations for your company process. At Bullseye Performance Management Systems, we believe HR Professionals are operational and strategic partners when managing an organization.

Pat Bell is an HR Advisor with Bullseye Evaluations. BullseyeEvaluation offers Performance Appraisal Software & Performance Appraisal System

Make Performance Appraisal Effective

Performance appraisal software offers a solution of employee review process problems that is efficient and effective. It saves HR Management’s time significantly over manually maintained records. Managers can more easily communicate business strategies, plans and produce measurable targets for their employees that will support specific and overall company objectives. Give your management the tools of individual performance measurement so they can identify and cultivate top performers for further development and establish a pay for performance compensation plan.

Pay for Performance System

Create a pay-for-performance system for retaining your valuable employees. This practice leads to an increase in corporate spending due to the recruiting and training costs associated with new hires. A high turnover rate of employees can be traced to disgruntled employees leaving due to what they feel are unfair salary practices. Alternatively, when employees perceive that the system provides fair compensation and rewards, employee engagement and retention improves.

Effective performance reviews let you establish a fair pay-for-performance system by a reward system with individual and team performance. It allows you to keep your high performing employees as a vital part of your organization.

Deploy Resources & Talent Appropriately

By using performance appraisal software you can make sure that everybody keeps their projects on track based goals that are associated with company goals. Keep an eye on the completion or non-completion of these recognized goals. Do not waste valuable human assets following goals not aligned with the company goals and strategy.

More than Performance Reviews

Developing internal talent can be a significant source of savings considering that external recruitment and training can be twice as expensive as identifying internal successors. How can managers analyze their employees' talent sets to estimate readiness for promotion and find potential successors?

The right performance appraisal software is more than a database for performance reviews. The information that is gathered can be easily analyzed and used to make informed business decisions regarding promotions, rewards, and succession planning for internal candidates while supporting difficult decisions when layoffs loom during challenging economic times. It is also beneficial in establishing training programs to assist employees who are found with gaps in required skills.

Similar Goal Practices

Similar job descriptions and goals can share best practices among employees. This practice is necessary to improve employee performance with expert employees. When an employee has the ability to work efficiently and is considered an "expert", less experienced employees can be trained to follow those best practices and be successful.

 

Feedback and Coaching Employee

Managers should check in with their employees on a regular basis to give feedback or coaching as necessary. They should be made aware of any problem that may keep their employees from accomplishing their goals. If there are problems or issues, the manager and employee can create a plan to overcome them. Feedback and coaching creates a separate feedback loop within the larger loop which should take place more often than an annual review, allowing for changes as necessary.

No matter whether you have 10 employees or 10,000, get Bullseye Evaluation Performance Appraisal Software and put your employees on track to increase their productivity. With increased visibility of company goals, employees will understand what is important to the company's bottom line and direct their efforts to be focused on what is necessary to make your company successful.

Bullseye Evaluation presents: Key Performance Indicators (KPI Dashboard) and Employee Performance Appraisal Software, choose anyone as per your business requirements.

Buying Tips & Guidelines for Performance Appraisal Software

With performance appraisal software you can make evaluations easily utilize you and your employee’s time more productively. Before you buy any product it is wise to compare features and prices. However, you must know what your actual needs are when comparing performance appraisal software to get the right product. Simply buying the system with lots of bells and whistles, or one that requires a lot of forms or inputs don’t necessarily give you the best solution.

 Keep in mind key goals for your business that you should see benefits in:

• Improving the current level of employee performance across your organization.
• Identifying the top performing employees across the organization that are key to corporate succession, promotion and advancement.
• Identifying the divisions/departments/groups-and specific employees- that are underperforming or average.
• Improving your historical employee retention rate and understanding if your employees consider your organization a great place to work.

 

Before You Buy Evaluation Software:

First you have to decide whether you need web-based or customizable employee evaluation system.

Web-based Software as a Service:
Web-based software (SaaS) makes the performance appraisal accessible from anywhere by Internet. All information is stored on a secure web SQL Server, Oracle Server, or Access Server database.
Custom Solution Software:
Custom software allows you to configure the employee evaluation process per your business requirements and specific needs.

The evaluation process can be difficult sometimes. Some employees may react defensively. Sometimes employees do not understand about the benefits of a positive appraisal. If your workers feel that there is unevenness in coming down hard on some while making it easy on others there will be disappointment and dissatisfaction. You can address these problems with the below guidelines:

Give Specific Instruction

Set and properly explain goals & standards for your employees and what they will have to do to achieve them. Never say "improve quality" & "work harder". Rather say exactly what you want from them like, "don’t make more than two mistakes in data entry a day" or "increase sales 10% over last month’s sales". Similarly, when you evaluate a worker, give specific instances of what the employee did to achieve the goal.

 

Make Deadlines

Set timelines to see improvement in employee performance. And make sure that the timeline is sufficient for that purpose. Don’t think that short and unachievable deadlines pressure employees to work harder. It frustrates them.

Set Realistic Goals

If you set unrealistic or impossible standards & goals, disappointment and resentment will result. Your Goals should take into account the realities of your workplace as well as an element of challenge beyond the easy reach.

 

Ignore Personality Evaluation

Just focus on the job, not on the employee’s personality. For example, don't say the employee is "emotional and angry". Focus on the workplace conduct that is the problem. You can say the employee "has been disobedient to the supervisor twice in the previous months. This behavior must stop."

Handle Honestly

If you won’t tell an employee the truth about his performance problems, the worker won't know what he or she needs to improve. Bad news is uncomfortable for everyone but everyone deserves to know where they stand and how to move forward!

Maintain Employee Evaluation Records and Data

Manage and store your evaluation data so that anyone reading it would be able to understand clearly what has happened. Remember that an evaluation might become evidence in a lawsuit. If it does, you will want the judge to see what you rated the employee.

Employees Feedback

The evaluation process should also tell you about your employees’ concerns as well as needs to be improving in areas. You should take their feedback about concerns and try to address them. You'll gain valuable information when you ask employees what they enjoy about their jobs and working with the company. Your employees will feel like real participants in the process. You might even get some insights that could improve the evaluation.

About BullsEyeEvaluation: BullsEyeEvaluation offers Web based Employee Evaluation and Talent Management Software that enable organizations to effectively evaluate their Employees Performance. Learn more at http://www.bullseyeevaluation.com/.