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One of the most important benefits that successful businesses
provide their employees is a supportive working relationship. When employees
are treated as partners by the business, they are more likely to serve
the long-term needs of the business. When working relationships are productive,
employees tend to bring quality to their work and treat customers well.
Investing in this productive performance partnership is fundamental to
developing employee commitment to the business.
As a business owner or manager, you want performance commitment
from your employees, not just compliance. While compliance may get the
job done in the short-term, employee commitment is what enables quality
service and profitability. Building a partnership and strengthening employee
commitment to your business and customers, however, doesn’t happen
by accident. To ensure good results, you must invest in creating a strong
and productive relationship with your employees. As with other employee
benefits, this investment will pay for itself over the long term.
What is required to build a performance partnership? How
can you strengthen employee commitment to customers and your business?
Here are our ideas for investing in a strong employee/employer relationship.
Share
your great expectations. Employees
need to know what you expect before they can meet these expectations.
While it seems like an obvious requirement, it is surprising how often
employees are forced to figure things out on their own. When you clarify
expectations for both outcomes
and processes, employees are able to work with
greater clarity and focus. The partnership is strong when employees know
the target of their work. Communicating your expectations also has a side
benefit of raising employee satisfaction. People’s job satisfaction
rises when they are clear about what they need to do (processes) and what
they should be working towards (outcomes).
Encourage
employees to set their own performance goals.
After you’ve defined what you expect, give employees the opportunity
to offer their reactions to these expectations. Commitment to a goal is
strengthened when people feel that it’s their
goal, not one that’s simply imposed upon them. A strong performance
partnership—and good employee relations—depend upon employees
feeling some control over their own future.
Identify
how you can support their success. Being clear about what you
expect and involving employees in setting their goals are good places
to begin in building a solid relationship with your employees. Ensuring
that they are successful in achieving these goals is the critical next
step. Meet with your employees to find out what each needs to be successful
in the job. One employee may need training in how to better use a computer,
another a complete review of the company’s product line, while another
needs weekly feedback sessions with you. Although the list of possible
employee performance support needs is endless, you can only find out what
your people actually need by
asking.
You may not be able (or want) to fulfill every need. That’s
okay. Let people know what you can and can’t do. In the process of
asking, however, you have gained a better understanding of your employees’
views of the company and their roles within it—and you now know what
they believe they need to be successful. The next step of providing the
needed support, training, or equipment becomes self-evident.
Find
out what turns your employees on. An effective performance
partnership depends upon each party both giving and getting something
of value. You provide resources and support and, in return, you get an
employee’s time, energy, and ideas. Defining your expectations up
front helps ensure that what you get
from an employee is what your company needs. Defining what employees want
in return for their labor is another critical part of building their commitment
to your company.
Some people simply want a healthy paycheck. Others, however,
want more than just a salary. They may want opportunities to lead others.
They may want a chance at future ownership. They may want the chance to
make a difference in people’s lives. Or they simply may want a job
that fits in around their family life and needs. As with employees’
support needs, the list of their possible wants is also endless. But you
won’t know what excites your employees unless you ask. Find out what
turns each employee on and then you’ll know if you can help flip
the switch—or if the employee’s wants aren’t a good match
for what you are willing or able to offer.
Hold
frequent and informal discussions about performance. One of
the biggest mistakes business owners or managers make is assuming that
after goals are set and expectations known, their job is to stand back
and let things happen. While giving people freedom to perform, solve problems,
and serve the customer are critical to employees feeling ownership for
their jobs, they also need a continuing connection with you. A strong
performance partnership results from an ongoing relationship with employees.
Performance isn’t a once or twice a year event. It’s a daily
occurrence.
Your job as an owner or manager is to keep the lines of
communication open. The free-flow of information between you and your
employees enables you to know what’s working and what’s not
working in the employee’s worklife. It also enables you to provide
additional support and direction that the employee may require. Plus,
it gives you another perspective on what’s happening with your customers.
So, instead of waiting until the annual performance assessment, use the
frequent discussions you have with each of your employees to ensure that
you both understand each others’ expectations, needs, problems, frustrations,
and “home runs.”
Provide
recognition and rewards for great performance. When people
do good work, your job is to find a way to recognize it. When they do
great work, you must find a way to celebrate it. This doesn’t mean pulling out your checkbook every
time you see good or great performance. It does mean that you need to
follow through on your promises—the things you told your employees
you would provide for people who do great work. Rewarding great employee
performance demonstrates your investment in the performance partnership.
Rewarding great performance is also an investment in your company’s
future. When people directly benefit from doing good work for you, your
customers and company directly benefit too.
When
things go wrong, explore cause
not blame. The performance partnership is most challenged when
an employee is having performance problems. Responding to performance
problems is perhaps the most important thing you can do as a manager so
focus on understanding the cause
of the problem, not on blaming the employee. When you shift your attention
away from fixing blame to discovering the cause, the employee will be
less defensive. Less defensiveness, in turn, leads to the employee taking
a more active part in understanding and owning the solution to the problem.
There are many employee benefits to which business owners
and managers must attend. Many of the tangible ones—such as health
insurance, 401(k), sick leave, vacation time—are essential for attracting
and keeping great employees. The often intangible benefit of positive
working relationships, however, is just as important. Without a good relationship
with your employees, you don’t have a performance partnership. And
without a performance partnership, you can’t serve your customers
well.
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