By Virginia Mburu
Let’s continue with the next four steps on how
to move your employees up the performance ladder.
Our case study is based on Judges 6-7. In the last article, we discussed the
first three steps namely;
Step 1….Be clear on what performance you
expect
Step 2….Note the non-performance and
address
Step 3…. Start a conversation and find
the root cause avoiding bias
Now to step 4-
Step 4…..Work out a plan of action -
together
Now that you have all the excuses and reasons,
avoid telling the ‘Performer P’ what they need to do.
You want to turn them into ‘Performer S’ who is
self-motivated- which means the motivating factors has to come from within
them.
Appeal to their emotions…..
Establish what makes them tick… what matters to
them? What do they value? How would they like their life to span out? What are
their goals and plans in the main life roles e.g. their financial, career,
education, family, social, personal development spiritual etc.
Connect these goals to the expected performance
e.g. How 123 more commissions means moving to a locality they have as part of
their goal or better schools for their children etc.
What you are basically doing is appealing to
their emotions such as fear of losing their job (demotivator in the long run)
or positive emotions like excitement, pride, a sense of belonging, and the
thrill of achievement.
Ask them to craft an action plan on how they can
improve. While at it avoid pushing them to make a plan on the spot but allow
them a few days to think, strategise, map out their plan and revert.
Step 5…..Time to offer your support
Do not be surprised if they seem not confident
about the new expectations.
Gideon literally asked for a sign- In verse
19-22 the Lord was to wait as “Gideon went inside,
prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast.
Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and
offered them to him under the oak. The angel of God said to
him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour
out the broth.” And Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the
unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared
from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When
Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
You know better what works given the job,
personality, their goals, skill-set etc. You may have to coach, train,
redeploy, add resources etc.
Remember your reputation, your character, your
behavior will inspire them more than anything else. Tell stories of how others
succeeded to show them what they’re capable of becoming or of doing.
Step 6…..Time to challenge them.
Break the long term goal into milestones that
can easily be achieved so as to build confidence. Let the milestones be
challenges that will exert them, bring out their creativity, and require
sacrifice.
Guide them on what is to be done and expected
results but trust them with the nitty - gritty details i.e. do not micro manage
them.
All the same, make sure the task is commensurate
with the skills. See what happened in verse 25-28. “That
same night the Lord said
to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to
Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar
to the Lord your God on
the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down,
offer the second bull as a burnt offering.” So Gideon took ten of his servants
and did as the Lord told
him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at
night rather than in the daytime. In the morning when the
people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah
pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built
altar!
Note the details on who was to help, when it was
done were left to Gideon!
Step 7…..Monitor, Evaluate, Provide
feedback & reward progress
Progress is powerful. So is
feedback. Gideon’s success in this venture build confidence in himself
and in the person who was sending him.
He was rewarded with a new warrior spirit and
thereafter won many victories as seen in verse 33-35. “Now all
the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed
over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a
trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout
Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so
that they too went up to meet them.
For effective monitoring, schedule
performance evaluations several times within the year. Some of us wait
until the year end for the annual performance appraisal.
Ditch this practice and possibly have quarterly
meetings where you touch base and monitor how the employee is progressing
towards the targeted performance.
Sometimes the best reward may be to release
Performer P. They may not be ready for the challenge ahead as Gideon discovered
in Judges 7: 3 “ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who
trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two
thousand men left, while ten thousand remained”
There goes your previous Performer P who was
thrashing wheat in a wine-press and thought he was the least capable warrior!
Now he is the ‘Performer S’ calling out and leading other men to war!
And win they did as a team. In the rest of
the verses we see God, Gideon and the warriors working as a team and
gaining not just one victory but several such that Judges 7; 28 says
concludes that “ Thus Midian was subdued before the
Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land
had peace forty years.”
Go on... craft a sentence that is similar
to the last applying this to your business -“thus non
performance was eliminated ...... and did not raise its head again. The
business expanded beyond ....."
Over to you Passionate Entrepreneur
- How do you motivate ‘Performer P’?
- What else can be done to improve their performance?
Share with your experiences, suggestions or
questions in the comments section below and help another Passionate
Entrepreneur.
Whatever you do, make sure it results in
less work, more money and positive impact.
Update
Virginia Mburu
The Work Less, Make More Money Passionate
Entrepreneurs Coach
Virginia empowers and motivates Passionate
Entrepreneurs to realize their purpose and pursue it. She then assists the
entrepreneurs to clarify, prioritise and focus on management and marketing
strategies and action plans that will get them to work less, make more money
and positively impact within one year. Download some of her gifts- absolutely free lessons on www.biasharacoach.com
No comments:
Post a Comment