Employee performance is becoming a more commonly discussed topic as leaders seek the help of performance consultants for their organisations. In order to have a workplace with employees who are able to perform to their full potential, it’s important that you as a leader, understand employee performance as a whole. Despite employee performance having the ability to be affected by personal matters, it is still the business owner's role to set the expectations for the performance levels, as well as continuing to monitor them and be dedicated to finding solutions to underperformance as well as strategies to bring the performance to the next level.
Employee performance refers to how your employees are succeeding at work and to what level, this consists of factors such as how long does it take to complete tasks, what is the word count on written pieces, what are the recurring issues, how are the employee satisfaction levels, how many tasks are being completed by each employee and other similar elements. Performance can be measured to the individual employee or you can measure a team's performance depending on if you’re specifically looking for an in-depth analysis of employee performance or a broader scale.
There are many factors that contribute to increasing or decreasing an employee's performance levels which every leader should be aware of in order to put the correct solutions into practice as well as being aware of what your organisation does well. One of these factors is the employee’s working environment, this consists of the desk or office employees do their work in as well as the building itself, area of the office and accessibility. You should be looking at how well maintained the building is and what strategies do you have in place to keep it this way or improve, similarly every room within the building should be kept neat, organised and accessible, this means keeping on top of small maintenance jobs such as the hot and cold water taps working in the bathrooms or vending machines staying stocked and powered. When looking at the location you’ll want to ensure there is accessible parking and that the area is a safe and welcoming one, on top of this it is important to consider the distance of food and drink shops for employees to visit on their breaks. Employee environments get as specific as regulating office temperature or lighting, but what does all of this have to do with employee performance?
An employee's environment is where they will be spending multiple hours a week working hard on their projects. If their environment is somehow not suitable, inaccessible or unhygienic it can and will hinder performance levels for different reasons, This is still relevant to even remote employees, although there is less control on specific factors they still need to be considered and discussed. A good, healthy and positive work environment will boost employee morale which can have a drastic effect on the attitude and mindset of the employees, this then leads to higher satisfaction levels which motivate employees to complete work with a want to succeed and do well. Some work environments can encourage more collaborative employees when having more open-spaced offices where employees are free to consult one another, this extra amount of teamwork can greatly boost productivity levels as more ideas and creativity can be discussed throughout the process of a project, not only during meetings.
Employee engagement is another highly discussed topic under the umbrella of performance consultancy, so what is it? Employee engagement is a two-way commitment between team members and the business itself, it is based on trust, integrity and an understanding of views and goals. Employees with high engagement levels show outstanding work productivity by up to 17% more than the average employee. One of the key elements that contribute to employee engagement is the purpose which also has a large impact on job satisfaction. Employees who find their role in the workplace meaningful tend to have higher engagement levels since they are motivated to serve the purpose their role provides for the organisation and its customers. Company culture also has an impact on employee engagement, for example, A culture that is energetic, positive, and welcoming will be more likely to engage its employees than one that is stressful and negative.
When employees are engaged with their work you will see a rise in performance levels since they are more motivated towards their role and the end goal of the organisation. Businesses that include variety, opportunities and rewards are giving their employees more incentive to not only do their job but to do it well, going above and beyond to achieve the highest levels of their role. Employees with high engagement are then also encouraging of their fellow employees, again boosting company morale and leading a team to the best possible outcome.
Leadership is another factor that largely impacts employee performance, as leaders and managers have a defining effect on company culture, workplace climate and relationships. Nearly half of employees surveyed that they quit their job due to poor management which is an unacceptably high rate, simply by monitoring your management and hiring the right leaders for your organisation you could half the number of resignations which we all know can build up to be quite costly for a business. Every employee is different and so some will work better under certain types of leadership than others, luckily this can be quite a controllable factor if time and effort are put into understanding both the employees and management teams within your organisation. Leadership styles can be adapted and taught and employees have the capability to learn about the different types of leadership and what works best for them to bring peak performance. Better leadership will help in creating a workplace that has fewer conflicts or at least shorter-lasting conflicts, workplace conflicts negatively impact performance by diverting concentration and lowering the ability focus. Good leadership brings less conflict by focusing on the relationships between management and employees as well as the employee's relationships amongst each other, team building and inclusive meetings create the sense of a strong team where relationships can grow to the benefit of everyone within the workplace and in personal lives.
Implementing leadership development programmes can even help the leaders increase their work performance by giving them the correct tools and information to do their job effectively. As well as this, employees with a strong management team have higher levels of psychological safety within their workplace where feedback can be both given and received maturely in an understanding manner for both employees and leaders. This high level of communication brings fewer cases where employees refrain from asking for help as well as the freedom to express their bright ideas, all leading to better performance levels.
The Modern Mind Group are emotioneering human performance not engineering it.
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