The cost of labor in any type of business is an enormous expense and therefore, we must insure they are performing at their very best at all times. Anytime an employee or group of employees, are not producing up to an established standard it is very important to develop a performance improvement plan to reverse that trend immediately. Every day that we delay any action we are losing money which will be making it even harder to meet our budgeted financial goals.
Understanding that in order for us to know whether our employee or employees are performing to a set standard we must first develop and establish those standards. As we do develop those standards they must be measurable, or they will mean nothing. So if your company makes widgets then we must know how much labor it will take to produce those widgets.
It is important to know if our standard is measurable. The key to producing any performance standard is to separate all the tasks that are necessary to accomplish the overall objective into smaller individual measurable ones. By breaking the tasks down it will help us determine what the employee may need help with. For instance if we are comparing this with a sport like baseball and the player is having trouble with their swing we would break the swing down into individual movements, i.e., stance, foot movement, upper body movement, bat location, etc.
So if we use the example of producing a widget that we spoke of earlier it is important that we separate out each individual step that must be performed to produce a widget. In order to do this right you must track and time each movement that is required in order to produce a widget that meets the standard. As your doing this record every necessary action that must be accomplished so that you can then ask the employee to perform them for you.
Once you have determined what the employee needs to correct in order to meet the standard you can then establish your performance improvement plan so that you can hold them accountable. A well developed performance plan will include every necessary action, perhaps training, that you will require the employee to complete. This list of action steps that are required of the employee must have agreed upon completion dates that are reasonable. To insure progress is being made those actions steps should include dates that you follow up with the employee.
Make sure that you document every step of the improvement process, and the employee's progress as you work through that plan with them. In the event the employee is unable to meet the standard after you have made a reasonable attempt to help them, you may have to let them go. Having sufficient documentation within your performance improvement plan, showing you gave the employee an opportunity to improve their performance will be a tremendous advantage in the unlikely event the employee should take legal action against you.
Understanding that in order for us to know whether our employee or employees are performing to a set standard we must first develop and establish those standards. As we do develop those standards they must be measurable, or they will mean nothing. So if your company makes widgets then we must know how much labor it will take to produce those widgets.
It is important to know if our standard is measurable. The key to producing any performance standard is to separate all the tasks that are necessary to accomplish the overall objective into smaller individual measurable ones. By breaking the tasks down it will help us determine what the employee may need help with. For instance if we are comparing this with a sport like baseball and the player is having trouble with their swing we would break the swing down into individual movements, i.e., stance, foot movement, upper body movement, bat location, etc.
So if we use the example of producing a widget that we spoke of earlier it is important that we separate out each individual step that must be performed to produce a widget. In order to do this right you must track and time each movement that is required in order to produce a widget that meets the standard. As your doing this record every necessary action that must be accomplished so that you can then ask the employee to perform them for you.
Once you have determined what the employee needs to correct in order to meet the standard you can then establish your performance improvement plan so that you can hold them accountable. A well developed performance plan will include every necessary action, perhaps training, that you will require the employee to complete. This list of action steps that are required of the employee must have agreed upon completion dates that are reasonable. To insure progress is being made those actions steps should include dates that you follow up with the employee.
Make sure that you document every step of the improvement process, and the employee's progress as you work through that plan with them. In the event the employee is unable to meet the standard after you have made a reasonable attempt to help them, you may have to let them go. Having sufficient documentation within your performance improvement plan, showing you gave the employee an opportunity to improve their performance will be a tremendous advantage in the unlikely event the employee should take legal action against you.
About the Author:
For more information on how to develop an performance plan visit Greg's website, Good Leadership Skills for Life. In addition, as a special bonus Greg has also provided many free performance improvement plan examples.
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