4 Practices To Boost Employee Performance

4 min read |

Last Updated on 16 July 2024

The ladder to organizational success is in employee performance. Highly motivated and skilled employees largely contribute to the growth and success of the organization. After the hiring process, one of the critical jobs for managers is to delegate tasks to employees, make them understand the company goals and objectives. This idea follows up with training and development programs to hone the skills of the employees if necessary. It is a strategic process that aims at boosting employee performance.

But often, employees tend to underperform. The reasons here are diverse but cannot be ignored as it directly impacts the company's bottom line. This uncertainty is, therefore, every manager's concern to boost employee performance. Thus, performance management and employee performance tracking become imperative in such scenarios.

Here are the four practices managers can take to boost employee performance.

1. Time Management:

You cannot source time on rent or hire, nor you can obtain. The way executives manage time has a direct impact on performance. Peter Drucker, in his book, The Effective Executive, shares how managing time effectively results in high productivity. He shares his three steps to time management.

The first step is to record your time- See where the time goes? Keeping a time log and finishing tasks within that frame builds efficiency.

The second step is to manage your time- Manage your time by cutting down the unproductive tasks or prioritize accordingly.

The third step is to consolidate time- Consolidate time and keep a large amount of time for your significant chunk of work.

To boost performance, it is, therefore, important to use time effectively. Time, as we know a limited resource and using it wisely, is the best bet for you. It does not imply that to get the most of it, you need to work 70 hours a week. Working extra hours does not add up to productive work. Managing time not only would help you cut down your working hours but also be more efficient in what you do.

2. Effective Delegation:

If you are a manager, your job revolves around delegating tasks to your employees to reach company goals and objectives. The situation is not that simple the way it sounds. Here are the steps you need to keep in mind before delegating tasks.

Give clear instructions- Be clear while delegating tasks to your employees. You must know what you want from your employees also must instruct them clearly.

Understand the skill set of your employees- Every employee brings their own skill sets to the table. You need to know where and how you get your work done.

Track the progress- Tracking progress of the delegated work helps you in reviewing employees' performance. And it would be best if you were specific while allocating time for the tasks.

Transparency- Being transparent or communicating openly with the employees on the goals and objectives before delegation ensures trust and boost employee loyalty. Give your employees the freedom to discuss doubts and ideas.

Active managers understand that for the employees to be productive and perform better, they cannot just dump work on them. Sincere communication between both the parties and making the employees aware of the organizational goals is crucial. Also, it would be best if you empowered them to keep the ball rolling from time to time.

3. Focusing On Team Efforts:

Work is a team effort. The role of a manager is to build team effort, improve their collective performance, and reinforce team goals. By defining rules for the team members and letting them understand the strength of the joint effort is crucial. In a team, members are interdependent with each other. It is on the manager's part to make them realize this aspect and motivate them to work as a team.

One of the easiest ways to do it is by building a cohesive team. Taking your group for lunch or having a short trip together might help break the ice among the team members and help develop an organic relationship among themselves. Or you can have an exercise where each member can tell about their team members and how their presence in the group help team performance.

4. Motivating and Engaging Employees:

Motivated and engaged employees perform better and take their work more seriously. It is the drive and the energy that gives these employees efficiency and contentment in their jobs.

In the workplace, a significant chunk of employees is more motivated and engaged than the rest. And you cannot only rely on motivated and engaged ones. According to Gallup, approximately 66% of employees are disengaged, costing US companies 500 billion dollars annually in lost productivity. To improve the company's bottom line and improve overall productivity, you cannot ignore the disengaged employees but find a way to boost their motivation and engagement. Here is what you can do-

Build a personal rapport- Know your employees. Talk to them and build the relation organically. Go for a work or a coffee and try to know them on a personal level. Make them realize that you genuinely care for them.

Hear them out- It may also happen that a personal crisis in their family or conflict in the workplace is killing their motivation. Whatever the situation is, a little empathy can always uplift their mood. This would help them build perspective and be more loyal to their jobs.

Feedback- Lack of feedback often results in low employee morale and employee engagement. Build a culture where employee feedback is a priority. Giving feedback is a great way to boost motivation and engagement.

Conclusion

I hope the above listing helps you bring more perspective on employee performance and in improving them. Do tell us your insights or strategies you apply to boost your employees' performance.

This article is written by Braja Deepon Roy. He works as a Content Creator and Digital Marketer at Vantage Circle. He actively participates in the growth of corporate culture and keeps himself updated in this space. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com