Sat, Jul 3, 2010
Expect the Best: Getting the Most From Your People
Posted by Ben Eubanks
I hit a session Tuesday morning at SHRM10 called “Strategic Planning for Maximum Performance” that I didn’t think would get me very far as a post. While I had some good tweets and sound bytes from Art Jackson, “The Human Performance Facilitator,” I didn’t catch anything that was especially groundbreaking for me. But then I started thinking about what I’d heard and how I felt about it, and there was some positive and encouraging material in there.
Everyone is a business person
Each and every employee, from the receptionist to the accountant to the Chief HR Officer, needs to know what your company does to make money. Knowing how the business works is crucial if someone is going to play a strategic role. Getting them into action as believers and contributors in the mission is going to help push your organization forward.
Manage performance daily
Another amazing quote during the session was “Don’t hope for a yearly performance appraisal to encourage people to do their job better.” It takes so much more than half an hour per year to communicate expectations and goals to your staff. If you think a quick session on an annual basis will solve a performance problem, you’re in for a rude awakening.
Stop rewarding poor performance
When we keep paying poor performers on a weekly basis, we’re giving some level of approval to their conduct. While it may be easy in the short term to just “let it ride,” it’s going to be much more painful to address the problem the longer it goes on.
Expect the best
If you want people to give their “A” game, you’re going to have to expect it. People live up to their expectations. If you expect them to do poorly, they will. If you drive them to do their best, then you might be surprised what you can get out of someone.
Are these things new and innovative? Not particularly. However, if you’re serious about getting the most from your people, it doesn’t hurt to get a little refresher course on people management periodically!
Anything else you’d like to add that I forgot?
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