Bridging the performance gap

Do you have underperforming employees?  Underperformance can be linked to several factors. What is the cause of underperformance? There are many possibilities.  Sometimes a performance gap may be due to employee attitudinal factors, organisational culture factors or it may be a skills deficiency.

A "performance gap" exists when the actual performance on a KPI is below the planned or expected level of performance. Examples of KPIs include return on investment (ROI), product or service quality, and extent of customer satisfaction.

Central to the concept of bridging the performance gap is identification of the divide between actual performance and expected performance standards. Performance management is a process for developing a shared workforce understanding regarding the objectives to be achieved at the organisational level.  Effective performance management centres on aligning the organisational objectives with the employee's agreed measures, skills, competency requirements, development plan and delivery of results.  In performance management, the focus is on improvement in order to achieve the overall business strategy and to create a high performing workforce.

Would you like to know how we can assist you in creating a high performance business?  Please visit our website.

http://www.leadershipmanagementsolutions.com.au

Copyright Leadership and Management Solutions Pty Ltd 2013

Effective delegation: A key component of leadership

You've made an unusual discovery - there's not enough time left at the end of the day. The bottom line of course, is your list of important things to do never gets smaller. In any company, the CEO's to-do list has the potential to grow infinitely.

What's a senior executive to do?

You have doubtlessly concluded your next level of company performance requires a managerial change. And hopefully, you have realized the changes necessary are with you. As CEO (or, on a divisional or departmental level - senior executive) your jobs include holding the vision; inspiring your senior management and your staff; fostering key relationships with customers, vendors, investors and the public, etc.

You now need to let go of some cherished things like product design, hiring, perhaps day-to-day sales - many things you handled in the past, often out of necessity - and focus yourself on your role as CEO. What about all these things you used to do? Delegate them. Assign the job to someone else.

There are five components to successful delegation.

1. Give the job to someone who can get it done.
2. Communicate precise conditions of satisfaction.
3. Work out a plan.
4. Build accountability.
5. Get employee buy in.

Often timeframes are dictated by external circumstances. Still, your employee must sign on for the task at hand. If you say, "This must be done by next Tuesday," they have to agree that it is possible. Ask instead. "Can you have this by Tuesday?" To you this may seem a bit remedial, but the step is often overlooked. Whenever possible, have your delegate set the timeline and create the plan. You need only provide guidance and sign off.   If you skip any one of the above steps, you dramatically reduce the likelihood things will turn out the way you want them to. On the other hand, if you rigorously follow the steps, you greatly increase the odds in your favour. Isn't this more work than doing it myself, you ask. No - it isn't.

Like to know more?  Visit our website.

http://www.leadershipmanagementsolutions.com.au



Copyright Leadership and Management Solutions Pty Ltd 2013

Why leaders need to know their team

Leadership can be a very challenging task. As leaders we don’t always get to choose who is on our team. Quite often a leader inherits a team, of which most of the members have been there far longer than the leader, and may even know more about the work than the leader. Irrespective of the situation, one of the responsibilities of a leader is to motivate the team to all work together towards the common goal. This can be a daunting and at times frustrating challenge. Quite often the team is comprised of very diverse members, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and work styles. The team dynamics are also often complicated by internal disagreements and personal conflicts. The leader, not only has work with this group of people but also needs to achieve the results expected by their superiors.

Leaders can greatly benefit by being able to identify the types of personality characteristics of team members. By understanding the basic personality types, the leader can use individual strengths of members for the good of the team, as well as assign tasks that individual team members naturally excel in. A leader can also learn to communicate in a way that is motivating, by taking into account the needs, values and working preferences of different team members.

A good leader will see the greatest results by working and utilizing the strengths and working style characteristics of the personalities on the team. By correctly positioning the individual member strengths and compensating for weaknesses, the leader can bring the team into a productive balance and harmony.    By facilitating each team member to function in their areas of natural strength and motivating them by communicating in a way that inspires harmony and team work, the leader is well on the way to achieving extraordinary results.

If you would like to achieve extraordinary results for your team, please contact us.

http://www.leadershipmanagementsolutions.com.au

Copyright Leadership and Management Solutions Pty Ltd 2013