How do you know if your employees are performing?

Depending on the type of job, there are various measures that could be used when evaluating an employee’s performance. A manager should consider what is most important to the business in terms of skills, knowledge, competencies and behaviours and then develop a tool to assess these elements to help gauge overall performance.

Answering as many of the below simple questions, that are relevant for each role, can be useful when measuring performance:

1. Execution and delivery - Do they get what they need to get done each day, on time, to an acceptable standard and within budget?
2. Quality of work - Is what they are producing of good quality (product or service)? Is it only acceptable or is it exceptional?
3. Effort and attitude - Do they have a positive attitude and put effort into everything they do?
4. Ability to take ownership - Does the employee take ownership for their actions and responsibilities?
5. Knowledge - Do they demonstrate knowledge of their subject to the expected standard?
6. Skills - Do they have the necessary skills in order to do their job (and beyond) or are there gaps that need addressing?
7. Customer and peer feedback - Does the employee receive positive feedback from others? This is particularly important if the peers and clients see their work more than you do.
8. Sales revenue generated - Are they just reaching or exceeding their targets?
9. Creativity - Do they come up with creative ideas, that are at least sometimes implemented? Do they question the norm and come up with new solutions?
10. Responsiveness to feedback - Do they respond to feedback constructively and make positive changes because of it?
11. Continuous improvement - Are they consistently aiming to improve themselves, the way they work, and results achieved?

Extra for Managers

1. Motivation of others - Do they help motivate their team to do their best at all times?
2. Leadership - Do they lead by example, offer direction and guidance to all?
3. Communication - Do they communicate effectively, regularly and supportively to their team?
4. Managing poor performance - Do they deal with poor performance in a timely, fair, consistent and correct manner?

What to do if you spot problems

While answering these questions, if you feel performance isn’t quite where it should be, arrange to speak with your employee, ideally in a confidential ‘one to one’ meeting with them, to discuss your concerns. You may want to keep this informal in the first instance, but if performance doesn’t improve you can then commence more formal proceedings and clearly demonstrate expectations for improvement. It may be appropriate to offer more support or training to get them where you want them to be. For further advice on managing poor performance, please see my previous article on "Tops tips for managing non-performing employees".

Further information and support

Please get in touch with me to discuss how I can help you with all your HR needs.