A bad employee can harm a company’s reputation and performance in a number of different ways. From being irresponsible to not producing up to par, such an employee will undoubtedly influence other workers to not give their best as well. For these reasons, it would be in the best interest for a manager to place special attention on improving the performance and reliability of these types of lagging employees. But why stop with mediocre improvements when an employee can transform from being the worst employee to being the best member of your team? Here are some helpful tips to make this happen.
Show Appreciation
Believe it or not, one of the leading reasons why employees will not give you their all is actually a direct result of your failing to provide them with the appreciation they crave. While you might imagine that a paycheck should be enough motivation for an employee to give their very best, according to Forbes, what truly works is knowing that a superior values and appreciates an employee’s hard work is often a much stronger motivator than the money they earn from their job. Showing this appreciation in different ways will demonstrate to an employee that you are worth impressing.
New Responsibilities
When an employee sees no chance of advancement, there is little incentive to give more of themselves when they work. By creating opportunities for advancement or the opportunity to increase their level of responsibility, this gives a poor performing employee something to strive for that is above and beyond what they are currently expected to do at their job. The opportunity to take on new responsibilities that cause others around the office to look up to these employees creates a catalyst for their developing an improved confidence and a stronger drive around the office.
Their Decisions Matter
When an employee is involved in company decision-making, this can make them feel like they are a part of what goes on around the office. Getting an employee involved in this capacity will help them to make a stronger emotional investment in their work and make them want to perform harder at their job to boot.
The Right Training
Sometimes the problem with a poorly performing employee is simply a lack of experience. For this reason, the right type of training is absolutely necessary. Think about how you want this employee to grow and how you want them to be able to influence your company. You may even consider having them go through strategic thinking training or some other type that may be more related to your business so that they can benefit it now and, especially, in the future. Doing this has the great potential of generating massive improvements in an employee’s performance. Overall, though, it is a huge investment for a company to make in all average or underperforming employees to help ensure that nobody is preventing any progress from happening.
Money Talks
When an employee cannot be motivated through other avenues, sometimes just the idea of earning more money can be all the motivation they need to perform better for the company. Money has a way of compelling employees to strive harder to please their boss. So, why not use this leverage to drive an employee to a higher rate of performance? If you have a quota that has to be made, have monetary incentives for employees who regularly meet that quota or go over it by a certain amount.
Placing a focus on under-performing employees is a great way to improve a company’s bottom line. As low-performing employees are motivated to develop a stronger work ethic and start performing above and beyond what is expected of them, they will often prove to be nothing short of being a diamond in the rough. As their talents mature, so will an employee’s ability to outperform other people around the office. Before long, a low-performing employee may turn out to be the highest performing employee in the company.