If you want a high performance culture, performance needs to be front of mind, not just for the management team but for everyone. Your company standards are well known, spoken about often and low performance is addressed. For many in management, low performance chats are uncomfortable.
BUT, if performance is addressed on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, it becomes the norm. If it’s bought up in the onboarding process, EVEN BETTER. A high performance culture will not just wait till the quarterly or yearly review to address poor performance. Regular debriefs and reviewing of data will have everyone on the same page, and means everyone knows where they stand in regards to the company standards.
But informal, regular, performance and/or mentality check ins aren’t enough, they need to be framed with formal performance reviews – quarterly is our recommendation.
Let’s unpack the benefits of Performance Reviews:
For the employee:
They know where they stand. Eg. Whether their perception of their worth and performance matches that of the management team
Gives them clarity on what they need to improve/focus on leading to the next formal review
Gives them a chance to remind management what they have achieved or bring up what’s holding them back
Gives them a chance to formally discuss what their goals within the business (and outside the business) are
Gives them a chance to set unique personal goals and rewards that will motivate them
Gives them more purpose day to day knowing they will be formally reviewed on a regular basis and that they have improvement to strive for
Means they feel supported and more comfortable to open up if anything comes up
For Management
Means that everyone’s data is being formally reviewed on a quarterly basis, giving management better oversight of company and individual performance
Gives management a chance to formally address low performance and explain the reality of what they can expect if they don’t meet the improvement expectations and the timeframe that they have to work with (and if it is considered a formal warning, then issuing a formal written warning is integral)
Gives management a chance to empower the high performers, by giving one on one recognition rather than just public recognition, but also gives an opportunity for you to set targets so they keep pushing harder
Gives management a chance to discuss the near and mid future with each member of the team to get a clear assessment of each individuals aspirations and motivations
Allows you to negotiate individual specific rewards (whether monetary or experience related) based around the area that they need to improve/focus on the most
The clarity that comes from the formal performance review will have everyone comparing themselves to their former selves and pushing for improvement, rather than getting bogged down by comparing themselves to others in the business.
So hopefully now you are thinking of incorporating regular performance reviews into your business operations - if you aren’t already - but what more can management do?
Set clear and achievable standards
Bring up standards daily and recognise high performers openly to show everyone what is possible
ANYONE & EVERYONE who falls below the standards on a weekly basis needs to addressed, not in a “pull your socks up sort of way”, but in a “lets work on getting you up and over standard” sort of way. ‘The standard you walk past is the standard you accept’ - Dave Morrison
Review the sales process data ALL THE TIME so you can see what works and what doesn’t in regards to the training and support you offer
Know your teams strengths in the sales process and let them guide those who are wanting to improve in that area
Set daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly team or company goals. Even though everyone will have their own areas to focus on based around their personal improvement, they will all share a common goal.
Mix up the goals, whether they be based on conversion rate, quality of sales or sales targets
Catch dips before they become ruts
A high performance culture doesn’t happen overnight, but when it does happen, your team will be more self empowered and business will be more enjoyable.
TO PROSPER: Focus on improvement on an individual basis and goals on a team basis.
Hopefully you have had a couple of lightbulb moments in reading this. There is always more that can be done to improve business, it’s just up to you to put in the work and follow through.