At the verge of being employed, every prospective staff makes promises that they will deliver and over deliver. Sometimes, they vow that they can do much more to surpass what the present employee is doing. Most times however, they fail to deliver on their promises. They even resort to outright laxity.
Sometimes the staff is to be blamed for not performing enough, sometimes it is as a result of factors beyond their control. Sometimes however, it is you the entrepreneur or the management in an organization that will be blamed. If the last point is the reason why staff are not performing, what can you do to make them get more productive than what they are doing presently.
Employ Passionate People Only
Even when you have satisfied your staff with everything material, it does not mean that the person will be productive. As a matter of fact, he may do the opposite if he or she is not passionate about the job he is assigned to do. At verge of being employed however, most staff will definitely claim that they are very passionate about the jobs, especially if they have been desperate because they have been out of job for a while.
How then can you determine if the person you are about to employ is truly passionate? One way to do that is to check the persons track record according to the resume he has submitted. Has he been doing such tasks in the past? Even if he or she was not employed with an organization to do it, did he ever take it as hobby or part time job?
You can also put someones passion to the test by offering to pay below the acceptable standard while making promises that you will upgrade his pay after few months with your organization. During this probationary period, his input to organizational growth will really help you in determining if he loves his job. During This period, you can also look out for signs like his attitude towards overtime work, or any other work related activities that you may need to do out side the working environment.
If he truly loves his job, you will see that he will be willing to go the extra mile to ensure that the extra task is done.
Pay in Time
A passionate employee will serve the interest of your organization, it is true. But passion alone cannot put food on his table. As you get hands that are effective because they love what they are doing, it is also pertinent that you do not delay with their salaries. Depending on what and how you agreed to pay them, it is not right for you to waste time with their payment.
Unless circumstances that are extreme occur, you have to make payment for their services on the date you have agreed upon. Even when such circumstances arise, do not hesitate to communicate to them the reasons for the delay and the date you have rescheduled to make the payment. As a fledgling entrepreneur, it may not be advisable to complain about paying your staff few months after you started operations.
Set Target
Irrespective of the nature of the work and conditions surrounding it, it is not possible to record any tangible success without setting target. Naturally man is lazy. Left to most of your staff, payment should just come regularly even when they do not work for it. Thus the need to set reasonable target to put them on their toes.
Do not make the mistake of not setting target even if your organization does not deal in Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Even if you are rendering services, even if some of the staff are not in the sales department, you can still set target. Communicate such targets early enough so that the staff will know what they are dealing with.
Depending on what you do and what your organization deals in, the target can be set daily, weekly or monthly. Some organizations set target for a quarter. The staff then take turn to break it down on their own and achieve it daily, weekly, and monthly. Whatever the duration you have set, it is important to communicate their progressive achievements so they do not get to relax when they are lagging behind.
Reward Hard Work
No matter how reasonable a target is, there are those who will not meet up with it. There are those who will just achieve it and there are others who will surpass the target by great margin. As you set target for your staff, it is important that you reward them when they achieve it. Depending on what you promised as you set the target, do not renege on what you have promised.
It is noteworthy that there are staff who will go out of their way to get tasks done even when they are not on target. Others are so passionate about their job that they are willing to sacrifice their leisure, break or holidays because they want to see the job get done. Such ones should be rewarded promptly and adequately. The fact that they get rewarded when they are not expecting it will surprise them and spur them on to do more.
Punish Laziness
As you reward hard work, do not just stop at overlooking the lazy ones. True, there are people who have put in their best but circumstances that they could not control prevented them from achieving their targets. But there are others too who have chosen to tow the path of laziness in doing their work. Such ones will never meet their target, even if it seems too easy a task. For such, there is always an excuse not to perform even after you have made provisions for money and other factors that will aid their being productive.
It is not enough to ignore such ones even if you reward the hardworking others. You can do your organization a lot of good by punishing the lazy ones. The punishment may come in different forms. underpayment, working extra hours without additional pay, suspension without pay, etc. Sometimes, if these measure do not seem to be enough to make them work you might resort to firing them. This should come after repeated warning.
This action will not portray you as being wicked, it will only tell the other hardworking staff that you are just. If you let laxity go unpunished, others will resort to laziness knowing that everyone gets the same reward anyway. Before such spirit permeates the system in your organization, cut it loose now. It will serve as warning to others who may be contemplating laziness.
Include them in Your Long Term Plans
When an employee believes he is not working for the present but his future, it is a motivating factor to make him very productive. This can work effectively even if the pay being earned presently is not much. As such genuinely inform them about your plans for them and for the future of your organization. Make them see your plans that will ultimately benefit all those working now if they stay loyal.
If possible, give them loans that will solve their present needs though it might take them a while to pay back. The long term loan will not make them feel the weight on their salaries. You can also make them buy shares from their salaries so that eventually they can become proud share owners when the finally becomes big and fully established.
Be careful however, not offer this benefit to the lazy ones, who may not be passionate about you and your business, but who are motivated because of what they stand to get materially.
As you strive to bring out the best of your employees, bear in mind that no matter how hard you may try, some people will never yield. As noted earlier, do not hesitate to show such ones the door. Wishing you the best in your business endeavor.
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