All too often the performance management system is viewed by management as a tool to catch employees doing something wrong. On the other hand, a system of catching people doing things right has proven to be the best model for a successful performance management system.
Target tracking links objectives, activities and resources required with due dates to manage employee efforts toward accomplishment of short term, mid term and long term objectives. It is recommended that the maximum number of objectives per employee be no more than five.
Of course the rewards and recognition program of any organization must be represent the rewards wanted and desired by employees. As a general rule employees will owrk harder towards what they are rewarded for and then only if the reward come soon after the activity and is consistent with what the employees observe others receiving for similar efforts.
I get into this entire concept of making sure you have the right performance management system in place in much greater detail in Chapter 6 of my recent book There Has To Be A Better Way.
Showing posts with label accomplishments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accomplishments. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Rainy Days
Today has been another of those rainy fall days. One minute you look out and see bright sunshine and the next the rain is pelting against the window pane of your office. Of course, as Canadians we all know that this is normal so we go about our daily routine anyway.
However, this particular phenomenon caused me to think of how running a small business is like fall days. It occurred to me that the bright sunshine was akin to those days when we had plenty of business. Our income stream was, if not full, still running nicely. People we try to connect with whether by telephone, email, fax, or in person are able to be connected with. Our sales programs are generating interest if not specific sales.
Then we find the rainy days. On those days it seems that no matter what we do we are unable to make that business connection. We place phone calls and receive voice mail. We send faxes and emails and get no responses. We visit the offices of clients and potential clients and they are not available. The flow of income has dwindled to a trickle or perhaps even come to a full stop.
Then there are days just like today when we have a combination of both effects. One minute we are high on success and the next minute we are low on rejection. The challenge is to somehow get through that with our sanity intact.
One possible way of handling those days, and yes we will all have them, is to pick something we know will be successful. Perhaps it is updating our files. Perhaps it is cleaning up the top of our desk. Perhaps it is as simple balancing our bank statement. Whatever it is we can take comfort in having completed one thing successfully. If we manage to do that first thing in the day the effect is that the rest of the day goes well regardless of the weather.
So, pick that thing you need done that you know is a sure fire success. Do it first thing tomorrow morning and see how the rest of your day goes. If you feel like sharing the results, that would be fantastic. If not, savour them yourself.
However, this particular phenomenon caused me to think of how running a small business is like fall days. It occurred to me that the bright sunshine was akin to those days when we had plenty of business. Our income stream was, if not full, still running nicely. People we try to connect with whether by telephone, email, fax, or in person are able to be connected with. Our sales programs are generating interest if not specific sales.
Then we find the rainy days. On those days it seems that no matter what we do we are unable to make that business connection. We place phone calls and receive voice mail. We send faxes and emails and get no responses. We visit the offices of clients and potential clients and they are not available. The flow of income has dwindled to a trickle or perhaps even come to a full stop.
Then there are days just like today when we have a combination of both effects. One minute we are high on success and the next minute we are low on rejection. The challenge is to somehow get through that with our sanity intact.
One possible way of handling those days, and yes we will all have them, is to pick something we know will be successful. Perhaps it is updating our files. Perhaps it is cleaning up the top of our desk. Perhaps it is as simple balancing our bank statement. Whatever it is we can take comfort in having completed one thing successfully. If we manage to do that first thing in the day the effect is that the rest of the day goes well regardless of the weather.
So, pick that thing you need done that you know is a sure fire success. Do it first thing tomorrow morning and see how the rest of your day goes. If you feel like sharing the results, that would be fantastic. If not, savour them yourself.
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