Ask yourself and an employee what it is most important for them to achieve this year? Do your answers match?
If not, then clearly you are unlikely to get the performance you’re hoping for.
In an ideal world we would all employ intrinsically motivated and continually hard-working staff who instinctively understand what needs doing and can do it to a high standard.
In reality this isn’t the case! No matter how good your recruitment selection, you are still working with real people.
One of the main blocks to productivity is the lack of communication about what is expected of staff.
How can they do what you want if they don’t know what you want?!
Top strategies to combat poor understanding of expectations
Make expectations clear from the outset
After a new member of staff joins then ensure there is a documented process to integrate them into the workplace. They should have a clear understanding of their job roles and responsibilities, how their performance will be measured, as well as expectations of behaviour and dress in the workplace.
Keep making expectations clear
When a new project begins then reiterate and clarify what is expected of each employee and how their performance will be measured.
Communicate!
Never stop communicating and keep the channels for communication open at all times.
Often management decisions can inadvertently put a block to a member of staff achieving their objective - they need to be able to communicate this openly without fear or worry so that everyone can work together and resolve the situation.
