Are employers really holding its staffers accountable for their performance?
A new study suggests that there’s a chance your employer may not be – and it’s causing your best employees to hit the road.
Low-performing employees in 42% of companies reported feeling more engaged, more motivated and more likely to work for their company compared to middle- and high-performers, according to a recent study from Leadership IQ.
This suggests that companies are allowing their worst employees to simply sit back and skate by.
“Low performers often end up with the easiest jobs because managers don’t ask much of them,” Mark Murphy, Leadership IQ CEO, said to the Wall Street Journal. In other words, they’re under less stress than the better performing employees.
And if low-performers aren’t being held accountable for their performance, or lack thereof, than your better employees may be covering for them or picking up the slack. If that’s the case, you can expect that those employees are keeping other employment options open.
Break the cycle by identifying your best employees
If you think this may be happening in the Finance department, it’s time to get proactive.
HRMorning suggests finding those employees and having a serious sit down with them. Identify your best employees and set up a recurring monthly sit down so they can answer these two questions:
- When have you felt demotivated or emotionally burned out?
- When have you felt excited or really motivated?
It’s also necessary to get managers and supervisors on the same page. Ask them to keep an eye out on any indicators of barely-there performance and if they see it happening, tell them to take action.
Intervening with low-performers
If managers or supervisors identify one of those low-performers that are simply gliding by, issue a wake-up call. If it’s early enough, the performance problems can be corrected.
The National Federation of Independent Business suggest these tips for intervening with a problem employee:
- Clearly lay out expectations of the employee and goals you want them to accomplish.
- Assign a time table and deadline, if necessary.
- Give the employee a checklist of what you want to see from them.
- Consider increased supervision.
- Always give positive feedback when an employee goes above what’s required. You want to make sure you’re rewarding hard work, not the bare minimum.
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