Those average performers are costing you big. High performing employees are estimated to be 10 times more productive than average performers. These opportunity costs are unbelievably high!

Imagine each one of your sales team not just doubling their sales but multiplying it by a factor of 10.  Same thing with developers, managers and every employee. This is a hidden cost that is hurting you, your company, shareholders and coworkers today. It may even be holding you back from a promotion.   

But can you turn every employee into a high achiever? Probably not, but do you really want the high achiever or just their results? Even a small productivity pickup for an average employee can yield unbelievable gains. What if you could improve the effectiveness of your employees?  Maybe get them at 20-30% of the high performer where they are currently at 10%. Huge gains if implemented across all employees at your company. I would take that in a second.

If you asked every one of your employees whether they would like to be a high performer I bet most would say yes. Even the low performers aspire to greatness. So why not take a shot at making them great and accept the 100-200% productivity gain if you fail. 

In “Disengaged Employees are Killing You,” I identified steps on how to engage employees and challenge them. A critical step that I identified was for constant follow up and communication. This involves letting them know what your employees did right and wrong – immediately. You are effectively holding them accountable for their work in real time. All feedback, whether positive or negative, is communicated the same objective way. Employees that have fallen short know what they need to do to improve and those that have exceeded standards are reinforced. You need to help aspire these people to greatness and, if you help them, they will be all in because the rewards are great.

Managers fail the employees by not providing timely and consistent feedback on where they stand. This impacts the company’s financial results and shareholders. An employee’s understanding of where they currently fit in the organization drives their future behavior. The non-performer either seeks another job or doubles down to make it work – wither option is something they will only do if you hold them accountable. The high achiever knows exactly where they stand and will continue to perform. 

If done correctly, there are no questions that need to be answered at a year-end review. In fact, perhaps the year-end review should be optional if the employee agrees that it is frivolous. At one large company there was a sought after opening in the investment area. Lots of candidates applied. My boss indicated to me that the employee review files were worthless as everybody effectively had top ratings from their managers. Virtually all of them. These were worthless for my boss to assess candidates for the new position. 

My first major job was at Honeywell as an Inter-company Accountant. Working hard, I averaged about 10 hours a day in a messy and chaotic position. Because there was little feedback, I naively assumed that my work was satisfactory. That is until I got blindsided as an under-performer in an annual review. Thirty years later I still remember it and I still remember what a bad manager is all about. How can one improve if the feedback is once a year?

These surprise reviews should never happen. But it does happen because over 44% of managers find giving developmental feedback difficult. I believe this is because they consider the conversation a critique of the employee’s work. In reality, it is helping create a high performing employee by holding them accountable in real time and encouraging behaviors that work and discouraging those that do not. 

I try to make sure that my employees always know where they stand and all effort is spent on creating their individualized role in the organization. With the knowledge of their success at the organization, I have seen employees and teams perform at unbelievably high levels. And the success has a multiplier effect. High performers will continue to perform because it continually provides satisfaction to them. And they need little or no management. 

Employees need you to hold them accountable for the firm to realize increased productivity. You are training them to be high performers and that is something they want. So help them succeed. It is a win-win and everybody benefits.

Sources:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/distinguishes-highperforming-employee-average-performer-39432.html

https://www.excel-communications.com/6-uncomfortable-reasons-managers-avoid-giving-feedback