How to Eradicate Low Performance

How do you get people to do what they’re supposed to do—not sometimes, not sorta, but consistently and for real?

This month I met an executive who said something that shocked me. He said that only 40 percent of their people are meeting their goals. FORTY percent!!! Yikes.

Imagine what it does to the bottom line to let 60 percent of people off the hook from doing what they are expected to do.

Those who ARE getting it and delivering the goods are naturally ticked. They’re having to hold down the fort in a massive way to keep the doors open to take care of the jobs for all those who are clocking time but not meeting objectives.

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Study Shows 70% of Your Employees Are “Checked-Out” At Work (and it’s costing you!)

 

Studies show that 70% of your employees are checked out at work… and it’s costing you!

Have you seen the 2013 Gallup State of the American Workplace Report? It’s one of the clearest reports yet on the vital importance of having an engaged workplace culture. Among the findings were these shocking numbers:

  • Employees who are disengaged: 70%
  • Employees who are engaged: 30%

Of the 70 percent of American employees who are disengaged, 20 percent are described as “actively disengaged”—they essentially hate their jobs. This leaves fewer than one in three employees to push the rope uphill with very little help from the rest.

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So What’s Your Story?

“Homework? Ah yes, I did my homework, but it didn’t quite make it here. Why? Well, my dog ate the homework. We took him to the vet to get the homework back, but the surgery took so long I was late to school and I think I’ll have to leave school early because my dog died and I imagine it will take weeks before I can get over the sadness enough to concentrate in school.”

Kids come up with the wildest stories to explain why they are late, why they didn’t finish homework and why they can’t come to school.

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Motivating Employees During Tough Times

In today’s turbulent economic market, even the strongest and most powerful corporate icons are challenged to find ways to improve their efficiencies. As they require more work from fewer numbers of people, their top priority is having effective leaders and motivators who can propel their group to greatness. Unfortunately, many young managers and leaders have never seen a tight economy, or at a minimum, have only a faint memory of what it can be like. It’s during these times that leadership skills are put to the test, because employee motivation becomes more difficult as the resources for motivating are pulled at the same time.

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Seven Secrets to Employee Engagement

Any company that thinks you have to pour money on employees to get them engaged will write off employee engagement efforts during tough economic times.

In fact, you can’t afford NOT to pay attention to engagement, especially when the wind is howling outside. Employee engagement scores regularly account for up to 50 percent of the variance in customer service scores. (more…)

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Get Rid of That “Gerbil on a Wheel” Feel

Busy work. It’s nuts. It’s out of proportion. In fact, the people who are always whining about being too busy and overwhelmed tend to be your least effective people. Ever notice that? The fact that they do their work so gracelessly and with such difficulty (“Can’t people see how stressed I am??”) is the biggest clue that they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing–or at least doing it really, really badly. (more…)

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