Appropriate Direction & Clear Guidelines are Vital to Superior Performance

Many companies, from large to small, have a difficult time with employees that are just not measuring up to performance standards, yet they seem to have the potential to take it to the next level. Does this sound familiar to you? The root of the problem may be a lack of communication within your organization. In order to expect superior performance, the job must be clearly defined and employees must know exactly what is expected of them. This can be more difficult than it seems, which is why it is often disregarded and thus becomes the cause of employee disengagement and poor performance.

To enhance the communication of job expectations, a clear job benchmarking process should be used to define and prioritize the key accountabilities required by the job. Throughout the job benchmarking process, it is important to consider:

• The job itself, not the people in the job
• Natural biases and how they affect the job benchmarking process
• The job’s most important contribution to the company
• Performance objectives that require the most time and which are most important
• Your long-term strategic plan and its effect on the position
• The behaviors necessary and the rewards for superior performance
• The hard and soft skills vital to the job
• How the job will motivate the employee to keep them “plugged in” and engaged in work

By sharing the job benchmark with your employees in a formal manner, they will have the appropriate direction and clear guidelines to give them new-found role awareness and the motivation to succeed.