3 Staff Productivity Improvement Steps to Finish Up 2008 Strong... In Our Weak Economy

Don’t give up on accomplishing your 2008 goals just yet. Ignore the media, market even harder & continue seeking the advice of your advisors. Most importantly, start improving the productivity of your staff today and shatter revenue records!

Written Oct 09, 2008, read 297 times since then.

Here’s a fact:

Without a productive staff, you simply are not going to grow your business or accomplish your important professional and personal goals.

In this time of economic turmoil, never before has it been more important to employ a reliable, motivated and productive staff.

Here’s another fact:

Not all businesses are experiencing hard times.

The top 10% (or so) of every industry have remained on pace to shatter previous revenue records. From what we’ve found, all of them have something in common.

The leaders of these businesses are ignoring the dreaded news spouted by the local and national media. They have continued to seek the professional advice of their business coaches and advisors. They have NOT discontinued or cut marketing efforts to attract new customers…

And most importantly, they have all taken the following steps to improve the productivity of their staff to finish up 2008 strong:

Step 1 – Establish Performance Standards

If you haven’t set minimum productivity standards (goals) for your positions, how do you expect your employees to produce to your expectations?

They can’t and won’t.

The most productive businesses have established, WRITTEN systems to assure every employee becomes and remains productive. And it’s important to know, a system is much more than a “Job Description” that your employee tosses in their file never to be seen again.

Productive businesses always have productive people. Productive people have “blueprints” for success which include:

1. At least five “S.M.A.R.T. Goals” and objectives of their position

2. All major duties and responsibilities (what they must do to accomplish the goals and objectives of their position)

3. Five to 10 “success strategies” for their position that they can initiate on their own to improve their performance.

By having these performance standards in your business, you and your managers spend less of your time micro-managing, externally motivating your unmotivated and will improve your productivity.

Step 2 – Hire the Right People in the First Place

If you don’t follow a proven system to attract and hire the right people, studies have shown up to 84% of your new hires will fail in their first year on the job.

And when they do, they will damage your customer service, employee morale, productivity, sales and bottom-line. Even worse, you and your managers will spend most of your time solving the problems created by having these people in your business.

Now, if you’d rather spend your time, energy and money on business development and increasing sales, start hiring the right people.

To do so, learn the best practices of TOP Performing companies. They all start with written performance standards, then “actively” recruit and never rely solely on their “gut” to make critical hiring decisions.

Step 3 – Continually Develop the “Individuals” on Your Team

Once you have created performance expectations and hire people who “fit” these standards, I guarantee your staff productivity will already have doubled.

You’ll also soon find it is much easier to take an employee doing 100% of quota to 120%, than taking an employee doing 50% to 70% of what is expected.

But the only way you are going to do this is to establish a system of continual employee review and at the same time, provide them the skills, strategies and “individualized” coaching they deserve (and require).

Your market’s leaders insure that every employee, from their executives to entry level, are reviewed and developed at least twice a year. You need to realize that if any employee is not reaching their performance and productivity expectations, your organization will also fall short on reaching its productivity, sales and revenue goals.

Many business leaders struggling to accomplish their goals act as if they believe not every employee can be a TOP Performer. Do you think market leaders believe this?

They don’t and neither should you. Start developing your greatest asset to Finish Up 2008 Strong... In Our Weak Economy.

Learn more about the author, Grant Robinson.

Comment on this article

Posted by Kirk Davis, University Place, Washington | Oct 13, 2008

Grant, your article hits the nail on the head. Set expectations, hire the best people you can find (who match the job) and developing the individual strengths and talents of your employees is the fastest and easiest formula for business success. Thanks for simple and profound formula!
Posted by Kirk Davis, University Place, Washington | Oct 13, 2008

Grant, one more comment. I was talking with a client that has experienced tremendous productivity gains from their employees. I asked how they had done it. He said they first had their best people do the jobs and time them so they would know how long a job should take, within a range. Then they trained their staff to this new standard. At first, their employees said it was impossible. A few people left. The rest of them maintained the standard (I think they stopped messing around). Then my client told me that accountability was the number one thing that kept the productivity going. The minute the management turned their back, the employees went back to the way things were. So they implemented some accountability processes that kept everyone on track. You really don't know what your employees are capable of until you challenge them. Recently a consultant and friend to the business (not me) walked through and commented that of all the businesses he had worked with in that industry, these were the happiest employees he had seen. Because of the increased productivity and the huge decrease in overtime, they have been able to give raises and benefits that they couldn't offer before. Accountability, accountability, accountability.
Posted by Will Peters, Charlotte, North Carolina | Oct 13, 2008

I couldn't have said it better. I've been somewhat of a motivational speaker in my meetings with clients. They're being swamped with the media's portrayal of our future. I'll reinforce my statements with this article for my clients. Thank you. Awesome job!
Posted by Jim Carney, Bellingham, Washington | Oct 14, 2008

We have a great staff. We know this because people tell stories about our staff. How they were treated and how nice it felt. We don't market on the staff because every company can then go out and brag on their staff and we are right back competing with every one else. Muddled in with no differentiation. But we have a cohesive happy staff and very happy tenants and clients. So when we need it the "team" is there to accomplish anything. We become the inovaters, the industry standard, the one's everyone else is trying to copy. It is a great thing. Thanks for bringing these great points out in your artilcle to continue to develop our best assets!

Virtual Offices at Gateway
Posted by Ben Finklea, Austin, Texas | Oct 14, 2008

We use DISC profiles so we know the personality tendencies of every potential hire. Before we place the ad, we usually know what profile will best fill the position. Sometimes it feels a little mechanical but it works really well. We tend to get people who love the work that we hire them to do.

Grant, do you use or recommend any other tools like DISC for the hiring process?

Ben Finklea, CEO
Posted by Ken Peters, Phoenix, Arizona | Oct 14, 2008

Grant

Great advice. And, though I know it's not the overriding theme of your article, I applaud you for mentioning how important it is to not discontinue or cut marketing efforts. Marketing, and strengthening brand awareness are critical in slow economic times.
Posted by Grant Robinson, Renton, Washington | Oct 16, 2008

Sorry for the delay in reply...

Kirk:

Thank you for the input and ideas. Your ideas and articles are always very helpful.

Will:

I appreciate your feedback. Keep motivating your clients and hope my article helps.

Jim:

Great points. Like I said, the most successful and productive companies always have the most productive individuals and teams.

Ben:

Good question. Of course I suggest growing businesses use assessments to hire and coach their people.

The DISC tools are good for coaching but really shouldn’t be used in hiring. You really need to consider a “Job Matching” tool that looks at more than just behaviors and then lumps individuals into a segment of the population. The DOL has said these type of tools somewhat “discriminate” by saying that all D’s, I’s, etc. are the same.

Look at tools that not only look at Behaviors but also match candidates to required Competencies and Interests. Only then can you hire people who can (ability fit) and will (interests / motivation fit) do the job you are hiring them to do.

My business offers tools like this and you can learn more at www.HowToHireTheRightPeople.com.

Ken:

Thanks for seeing that in my article. Every successful company I know of is still marketing hard, some harder than ever.
Posted by Gabriella Sannino, San Francisco, California | Oct 16, 2008

Excellent goal standards, nice to see them in writing... reminds me to have a chat with several writers...;)
Posted by Briana Barrett, Seattle, Washington | Oct 16, 2008

Thanks for posting - I love this article.

I have a perhaps silly-sounding question, but what are some examples of the "success strategies" you recommend in part 3 of Step 1?

Are these things that only a boss/mentor/coach/more experienced employee can give someone? Or are they things that employees come up with themselves?

Are they sometimes tool-strategies (like 'start using GTD'), or are they methods/strategies specific to the job (like 'take a course on xyz")?
Posted by David Beckett, Durham | 2 days ago

I would take the response to Ben further.

Most organizations seek productivity gains through focusing on their systems. Unfortunately, the systems amount to only 8-10% of the equation. The remaining 90-92% are comprised of optimizing the match of the employee to what is being asked of them, and coordinating the team.

The DISC system is an ipsative tool that compares the individual against what they prefer. In business, we get measured against our performance, however. This requires a normative tool.

My experience is that with a strong normative tool, it is possible to capture the profile of known strong performers. This makes it possible to: 1) replicate through hiring the performance of top performers, and 2) replicate through development the performance of top performance. On average the productivity gains are 5X to 8X.

Additionally, this provides a strategic advantage because of the ability to consistently create high performing teams. These high performing teams make it possible to create and sustain new industry standards. When a firm "owns" the standards, they can "own" their industry. Another strategic advantage is being able to drive additional productivity gains and profitability through sustainable innovation, rather than ephimeral financial maneuvers.