Are You in AWE of Your Employees?

Employers have become so concerned about seeming "unfair" or worse becoming the victims of lawsuits by unhappy ex-employees that they've stopped requiring minimum standards of employees. This can only lead to poor individual and eventually poor company performance. Your best employee performers will resent the fact that you use company money to pay people who aren't up to standard and will reduce their own level of performance or leave.

Take back the power in your workplace and set standards of performance. How to fairly assess each of your employees? I use a simple three part measurement tool with the acronym AWE or Able ? Willing ? Engaged.

Is the Employee Able?

This is the minimum standard of employment or continued employment. Does the employee have the basic job skills? Does he or she also have the people skills to be able to work effectively? Does the employee have family or personal issues that make it impossible for the employee to work the expected hours? Does the employee have any emotional or physical health issues that make it impossible to do the job effectively? Is he or she lacking any problem attitudes, such as racism or sexism that make them unable to be open to customer or co-worker interactions.

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, you should move the employee to another job where the issues aren't going to affect their competency or transition them out of the company.

Is the Employee Willing?

The next level up that is also a make or break issues ? is the employee willing to do the work available? Does the employee seem happy to be at work? Does he or she genuinely care about the welfare of customers, co-worker, and the company in general? Does the employee get to work well-rested and prepared so that he or she is able to be fully present and concentrate? Does the employee gracefully take on assigned tasks? Does the employee arrive at meetings on time and prepared? Is the employee open to dialogue and answering questions related to his or her work?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, there may be some resentments that have built up meaning that the employee can do the job, but isn't willing to give 100%. This employee needs to have the opportunity to vent frustrations, get clear instructions on what is expected, and then have the opportunity to recommit to the work of the company. If the employee remains unwilling and hinders the work of others with a poor attitude, the employee should be transitioned out of the company.

Is the Employee Engaged?

This is the highest level of employee involvement and commitment. These are employees who are engaged in the work of the company take initiative. They are problem-solvers and actively work out work problems, including inter-personal problems. They actively seek feedback about their performance. These employees are natural leaders and will lead in a project whether or not they have a management title ? other just seem to follow them because of their willingness to take risks or because of their demonstrated expertise. They also look outside the company for sources of good ideas and are always setting goals to take their own work to the next level. They like to learn and will look for opportunities to take on new tasks to learn new skills. These employees give 100% because they are motivated to do so internally.

It is only if a company gets in the way of superior performance that these employees will stop working at the highest level. If they become frustrated that management does not support their efforts to raise the performance bar in the company, they will disengage and eventually leave.

Final Comment

Employees who are not able to do the job shouldn't be offered continued employment. If you can create open communications with employees who seem unwilling, you can often turn around their performance. Your best point of leverage is taking employees who are willing and helping them become employees who are engaged. The best way to do that is to have plenty of engaged employees around. Their work behavior can be infectious. And get out of the way of the engaged employees. They want room to run and will only leave if micromanaged or not allowed room to experiment with new ideas. Follow these few simple ideas and you will be in AWE of the contributions made by your employees to the prosperity of your business.

About The Author

Jan B. King is the former President & CEO of Merritt Publishing, a top 50 woman-owned and run business in Los Angeles and the author of Business Plans to Game Plans: A Practical System for Turning Strategies into Action (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). She has helped hundreds of businesses with her book and her ebooks, The Do-It-Yourself Business Plan Workbook, and The Do-It-Yourself Game Plan Workbook. See www.janbking.com for more information.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the byline is included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

janbking0191@sbcglobal.net

---

What Personal Assistants Really Want

What would happen if the personal assistants in your organisation... Read More

Competion or Cooperation?

It has been said, there is no better way to... Read More

Are You Ready to Sell Your Business

Make Sure You Understand Your Motivation for SellingAre you thinking... Read More

How to Delegate More Effectively

Do this simple excercise, and transform your life.First, Make a... Read More

Einstein, The Universe, And Leadership

Every since serving a hitch in the military, I have... Read More

Lets Flourish and Prosper!

Some say that in business as in sex: if it... Read More

You Get the Behavior You Reward

On consulting assignments, here are some of the questions I... Read More

Drafting an Employee Manual Sample Outline

One of the hardest things I had discovered running my... Read More

Writing and Revising Your Life Story

Change is not simple. Why do we repeat behavior that... Read More

One Bad Apple

One Bad Apple I know what... Read More

Attract and Retain Positively Great Employees - An Action Plan for Employee Training

Everyday a business owner, CEO, or manager somewhere is complaining... Read More

The Changing Boss-Secretary Relationship

THE CHANGING BOSS-SECRETARY RELATIONSHIP: Imagine a partnership at work. One... Read More

Downsizing in Organisations - The Real Truth

I've met and worked with many people in all sectors... Read More

Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together

Q: Why is a great business like a great marching... Read More

Executives and Emotional Self Awareness

A major problem impairing an executive's performance is his Emotional... Read More

Talent Recruitment Challenges of High Technology Companies

As a result of the dot com meltdown and the... Read More

Communicating CEOs

I see a PR firm has done a survey on... Read More

Examining the Relationship Between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

Researchers have undertaken numerous studies to look at the connection... Read More

How to Reject a Job Applicant

A Nightmare That Really HappenedOver 10 years ago, when I... Read More

Change Management: Avoid Havoc In Very Uncertain Times

Escalating gas prices...tensions and turmoil in the Middle East...a struggling... Read More

Is Your Brain Getting the Memory Full Message? 5 Ways to Free Up Room on Your Brains Hard Drive

Lynn was tapped to head up the project team for... Read More

Conflict Resolution Training- When Personal Safety is an Issue

Conflict generally arises by having your needs, desires, perceptions and... Read More

Magnificent Meetings - 5 Tips for Success

Your impact at meetings will determine in a big way... Read More

How Invisible Communication Barriers Kill Productivity

Many kinds of interferences or disturbances can confuse a message.... Read More

Your Organization Is Only as Good as Your People

Let's begin by singing the jingle from an old US... Read More

Communicating with Offsite Workers

How do you, or would you, communicate with employees who... Read More

Using the Six-Sigma Methodology to Improve Wafer Fab Productivity

As a result of consolidation of operations and significantly increased... Read More

The Ins and Outs of Internal and External Relations

INTERNAL PUBLIC RELATIONS: Never overlook an opportunity to do internal... Read More

Build Rapport Fast! - Eight Easy Steps

Building rapport is all about creating a relationship, in the... Read More

6 Steps To Effective Management During Change

Take the pain out of gain and decrease the upheaval... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Competition versus Collaboration

There is much confusion as to whether competition or collaboration... Read More

Using Employee Opinions Effectively When Designing HR Programs

Using Employee Opinions Effectively When Designing HR ProgramsEmployee opinion is... Read More

Leadership Skill: How to Handle Difficult Conversations

A good leader has the ability to empower others. It... Read More