A Management Challenge: How to Enhance Average Performance
Average performers are usually an overlooked resource for increasing work quality and/or quantity. It is all too easy to pay attention only to performance extremes. Top performers have built-in rewards. Their performance at the top of the charts makes it easy to provide meaningful and specific feedback. Performance problems at the other end of the spectrum also demand attention. When performance is clearly below target, it is visible to almost everyone involved in the effort, and you have little choice but to try to make improvements.
Because of these day-to-day pressures, average performers are too often neglected; we only act when performance erodes into a problem. However, active engagement not only prevents potential performance problems, improving the performance of your average employees "raises the curve" for the entire group and improves the effectiveness of your team as a whole. With the right encouragement and motivation, average performers can help you achieve above average results.
Here's five practical action steps that will help you get the most out of your average performers:
1. Describe an aspect of the person's performance that is above the standard and explain why it deserves special recognition. Be specific about the above-average performance and show your positive emotion about it. Be sure to state why it is important to the department/division/company. By identifying and strongly acknowledging a specific aspect of an employee's performance that is above standard, you reinforce that employee's confidence in his or her ability to be more than an average performer in other areas too.
2. Express appreciation and desire to help in other aspects of performance. Show your high interest in helping develop your employee's other capabilities as well.
3. Suggest another area where the person might excel. State a Decision Goal ("I believe you could also excel in the area of___. Let's discuss that, so you can decide..."). When you directly address areas of average performance, be careful to maintain the self-esteem of the employee and not imply a performance deficiency. The idea is to make good performers even better, to build strength on strength, not to give the impression of a "problem".
4. Discuss action steps needed to enhance performance in the new area. Lead to Neutral and above. Ask for suggestions and "play" with different approaches before closure at the biggest commitment the person will make today.
5. Summarize and express your confidence in the person. Summarize what will happen next and what you will do to provide support. Express your confidence that the person can do more tasks/work at a higher level of performance.
This information is taken from the booklet "Leading People for Quality Results", a practical and useful guide that can be used in conjunction with any PAR program to show participants how to apply PAR leadership skills to fourteen common management practices.
A Management Challenge How to Enhance Average Performance - To learn more about this author, visit Patrick T. Malone's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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