Tag: difficult terminations

Employers Survival Tip #4

Establishing Performance Standards to Achieve Success

Competitiveness, profitability and growth are rooted in the ability of your human capital to execute your strategy. Setting benchmarks for what constitutes success, measuring performance against those benchmarks and finally, rewarding achievement are keys to maximizing the potential of your employees.

So what factors contribute to low performance, low productivity and lack of business success?

Lack of communication, or improper communication greatly contribute to low quality performance and low productivity. Business owners and customers tend to assume that employees and managers see things the same way they do but in reality, not many employees think like business owners because they don’t have the same goals for achievement as an owner does. Creating a crystal clear set of performance standards and communicating it effectively to your employees is the key to business success.

Time Barriers

Unfortunately, due to limited time and resources, businesses owners are typically too busy just focusing on revenue generation, operations and keeping the business growing to really focus on the people that make it possible. Subsequently, small businesses consistently fail to transition to the next level and succeed to their potential. Performance Management is a necessary function of every business to invest the time necessary to accomplish what needs to be done.

Making the Complex Simple

Managing performance involves many complex factors, but can easily be accomplished and scaled down to meet the needs of a small business within the time and resources available to most small business owners. The following steps are foundational to an effective performance management strategy:

  • Determine what needs accomplished, when and who should be responsible
  • Set short term and long term goals, corporately, by department and then individually and break them into small steps
  • Set measurable standards for each goal and make it clear what defines success. Ensure there is consistency between employees with similar duties
  • Communicate in writing what is expected from your employees. Have the employee(s) sign the performance plan. Encourage the employee to take ownership of the goal and be open allow the employee the freedom to choose how to best succeed, within certain boundaries of course
  • Monitor performance on a regular basis, even before the goal is due to determine progress and make adjustments as necessary
  • Avoid linking performance to pay increases or bonuses unless you set up a specific compensation for the performance plan
  • Recognize achievement and completion of goals – recognition drives future performance

Start with the big goals and break them into small goals. Set up a system to review your goals regularly and make adjustments as necessary. Always communicate your goals to your employees and get that “buy-in” factor in place.

Performance Standards Provide Liability Protection

Additionally, failing to set performance goals and measuring performance opens the doors for employer liability. When you have clear documentation illustrating an employee’s shortcomings as compared to organizational/individual goals and objectives and subsequently, to other employee’s performance, you stand a much better chance to defend claims or lawsuits associated with wrongful termination and discrimination.

The primary purpose for goal setting is for everyone to individually succeed, and for the business objectives to succeed. By measuring performance against reasonable goals, the weaknesses in your team will stand out. You can then begin the process of strengthening the weakness or eliminating it.

Dealing with Difficult Terminations

Avoiding Costly Mistakes

As business owners, we all know that terminating an employee is never an easy task to engage in. Additionally, and more important to understand is that terminations carry numerous legal pitfalls and must be accomplished with great care.

In today’s difficult economic environment, small employee problems can become big problems for you due to the potential for desperate acts of employees in fear of losing their jobs.

Couple a desperate employee with a legal system that gives far greater weight to employees than employers and you have a situation that will require cautious forward progress

Before you decide to terminate an employee, consider these steps:

  • Document everything! Disciplinary issues, pay raises, employee classification changes, job description changes, promotions and demotions must always be handled in writing so everything is clear and concise.
  • Do not let small problems go unanswered. If an employee is not acting as someone who really wants to be an asset to your organization, the time is now to begin dealing with the problem and move toward correcting the behavior or setting up a legal termination.
  • If an employee is not behaving properly, be sure performance evaluations are in line with the issues they are having. Make sure you do not contradict yourself when you decide to terminate.
  • Be sure you have properly counseled the employee to ensure there are no hidden issues and that you have given them every chance they deserve to improve.
  • When it is time to terminate, consider all pertinent information such as potential discrimination issues, recent injuries or job complaints, health issues and available performance documentation to name a few things.
  • Terminate decisively when everything is in line. Explain to the employee why they are being terminated but it is not advised you go into detail about the offenses or problems associated with their employment. This should have already occurred during counseling sessions.
  • The employee should never be surprised by the termination if you have done everything properly.
  • Be sure to provide the employee with all required paperwork, final pay, unemployment pamphlets, COBRA information and anything else required at the time of termination.
  • Do not deduct costs associated with unreturned tools, uniforms, loans or other monies owed to you by the employee. final paycheck deductions are rarely legal. It is best to handle these through other means.

This by no means covers everything you need to do before terminating someone but it does provide a basic guideline top stay out of trouble. Form ore information on terminating an employee or any other employee management issue, please contact Champion Employer Services at 800-513-2153.