Continuing our discussion this week on identifying high performers, we addressed HOW to do this in this week’s “Monday Moments with Monica”. What we didn’t address is WHY. And while the why for employing ways to improve employee performance might be obvious and certainly financially related, there is, as there often is, more to the story. Improving work performance through identifying your high performers and developing them has many benefits and here are just 6 to name a few!
More Gets Done
Ever heard the phrase “rising tides raise all boats”? Think of your office as a sea of boats of varying sizes. The tide is out, but some still stay a float out there in the deeper water (i.e. high performance territory). Yet, when the tide comes in, all the boats rise. What you do to support the high performers raises all the tides, the financial coffers, and the morale of everyone.
Numbers Go Up
Okay, so this falls in the category of DUH! But most get complacent around improving employee performance. Reasons cited include it’s hard work, it’s tedious, it’s time consuming, I have too much other stuff to do and more. However, if you merely improve the 20% who reap 80% of sales for example, by a small 5%, how much more could you do with that additional revenue?
You Get Time Back
Not only will you be able to do more when the numbers up, you’ll be able to get some of your own time back typically spent on addressing employee performance problems. Whether you do the work to identify and develop high performers or you hire a training firm or leadership consultant to do it for you, when the results come in, chances are you’ll have time to focus on other things than the one currently not performing.
Others Get the Message
I eluded to this on Monday, but let me be more explicit. When you’re spending your valuable time as a leader valuing and coaching those doing it less then well, you send the message to those doing it right that they have to mess up to get your attention. That’s a message that needs to be sent in reverse.
You Can Look for More
Low numbers, time spent coaching those low in work performance, and focusing on ways to improve performance in those employees who really have no interest creates stress and takes time. What if you were able to weed out those who weren’t performing, identify those high performers, get some time back, and then spend it out recruiting other high performers to continue the cycle of success and business building.
You Get Noticed
When things are bad, people pay attention in a negative way. When things are good and numbers are up, you also get noticed, it simply seems to take longer. Given a little effort, a clear focus on improving work performance, and a little patience, your efforts will get you noticed. Maybe you should spend some of that time you get back also focused on succession planning so that you can back fill your spot when you get promoted.
