Appreciating Gains in Employee Productivity

By Dave Hamby

       If you've ever attended a business convention you may have noticed that the average businessperson has his or her fair share of things to complain about.  I'd suspect this is true in almost every line of business, from retailers to plumbers, from body shops to CPAs.

       The one area of complaint I've heard the most often has to do with employees and how it's almost impossible to get good ones anymore.

       My own business experience suggests that while there are some folks who are just poor performers and would never make good employees, most often poor employee performance is a result of poor management practices.

       While that's easy to say, defining those practices and implementing better practices to improve employee performance is a task that has confounded business, industry, government, and any other institution that requires employees for as long as these institutions have existed.

       I recently had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of Larry Jones, whose company, The Performance Edge, has a good grasp of what these bad practices are and how to remedy them.  As we visited I came to realize that what he had to share reconciled with my own successes and failures.

       Larry told me that a major management problem today is that managers spend their time reacting to things that have gone wrong and use all of their managerial energy fixing things that are bad or broken.  While this may be an effective method of managing machines, this often creates resentment in employees.

       How many times have you heard someone say, "The only time anyone notices me around here is when I goof up."

       Managers often don't grasp how big of an emotional investment employees have in their work.  It's easy for a manager to grasp this concept with professionals and peers, but somehow they miss this basic truth when it comes to their warehouse people or their sales clerks.  As a result, most employees' interactions with their bosses are not positive ones and not something the average employee would choose to do. 

       The solution here would be for managers to begin focusing on things that are not broken, to notice employees' efforts that are successful and beneficial.  Notice and appreciate their contributions and their investment.  Dwell on what they've done right and how their involvement promotes the success of your business. 

       Some managers might say that they already do this, and it hasn't made that big of a difference.  Larry suggests that they look at how precisely it's done, and how often it's done.  We tend to think we give a lot of positive reinforcement to people with whom we interact, but often it's not well focused and is rather thinly spread. 

       Another key point is that if managers don't have a clear picture in their heads of what superior performance looks like, then they can't notice it often enough.  It's difficult to validate excellence when there's no determination of what excellence is. 

       Anyone familiar with organized sports has experienced this concentration on the positive aspects of a person's performance first hand.

       Rarely does a coach say to a player coming off the field, "Hey dummy, you ran to the right when you were supposed to run left.  Because of what you did we're going to lose this game and it's all your fault."  Coaches save this interaction for the film room and then try to teach the player that running to the left would be more effective in that circumstance.  Instead, what you'll hear from the coach is "Nice hustle" and "Good play."  Of course if the player continues to run to the right they'll find themselves sitting on the bench or playing for another team.

       If a person does something well, they deserve validation.  This will only prompt them to try harder and do better.  If the only time employees interact with their bosses is because they've done something bad, then they'll work hard to avoid any future interaction.  Often this will result in them doing as little as possible at work and keeping a low profile.

       An organized "system" to help to keep the validation efforts happening more frequently is necessary.  This system should be something employees can monitor so they're clear on how they're doing.  It's tough to know if you're winning or losing if you can't see the scoreboard.

       Larry points out that there's always the exception to the rule, the person who'll strive to be the best they can regardless of any validation or positive reinforcement.  Don't let that exception create the rule.

       Now a lot of the managers I know would say, "I give my people validation.  They get validated every Friday when I give them their paycheck."  The truth is that while this may be enough for entrepreneurs and business people, it just doesn't work for the average employee.

       Employees who feel they're an important part of a winning team will strive to excel at every opportunity.  Money is not the best motivator.  Employees who are unhappy and overpaid will just grouse that they're not getting more.

       There's a lot more to what Larry's company offers than I can put in a single column or even a single book.  If you're like me and you've had some departments that excel (employees you appreciate and validate), and others that just never can seem to get their acts together (employees you don't appreciate), then you should visit Larry's web site at www.the-performance-edge.com . 

       Wouldn't it be nice if at the next convention, when your peers are griping about bad help, all you can say is, "Gee, I don't have any bad employees."