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I'm blessed. This summer I've had the opportunity to address two NRECA events -- the combined Finance/IT Conference in Colorado Springs, and the CEO Conference in Traverse City, MI. I've [...]

Diagnosing and treating poor performance in the workplace is examined.

Human resources professionals must make the effort to assist long-time employees showing poor performance. Employees must be told about their problem, while addressing the need for additional skills or training. A time frame must be also set for monitoring progress. Termination may be an option if an employee shows no desire to improve, while more time may be required if the observed progress fails to meet performance goals., Written improvement plans, timetables and regular progress evaluations are vital to improving - or dismissing - poorly performing long-term employs. Few 'gray areas' are as troubling in the day-to-day function [...]

High standards of employee work performance are essential to the quality of a company's products. Quantity should not be emphasized over quality. Standards should be set with the expectation that they will be met. Employees should understand how quality work benefits them. For example, defective products will hurt the company's reputation in the market place, which will in turn hurt the employee. Supervisors should get to know their employees well and encourage creativity and innovation. Additional means of improving work performance are discussed., The success and profitability of your company depends on both quality and quantity output of your department. Whether you work in an office, plant or in the field, there is [...]

When a manager refers to an employee as a source of frustration, it is time to put the person's behavior to the passive-aggressive diagnostic test. Dan Sullivan feels stuck and [...]

Competence-related pay is increasing in popularity among European employers. A recent Towers Perrin report indicates that 20% of 300 respondents were relating competences to pay for certain staff members while 50% considered competence-related pay as one of their top three priorities. There are two ways by which pay can be tied to competence. One is to treat pay as a job-oriented process that uses competence headings to assess jobs or roles. The other is to treat it as a people-oriented process that relates pay raises to the competence levels that workers achieve. A third option is to integrate the two processes into a single scheme. Competence-linked pay is recommendable if competence is critical to competitive advantage, competence structures are in line with core business needs, the organization is flat, knowledge workers are employed, broadbanded pay scheme exists, and performance management processes are used.

There has been an increasing focus on the performance of workers through appraisal, performance-related pay and performance management and this emphasis on measuring performance has extended to the public sectorumore specifically, to the teaching profession. This paper uses research commissioned by the DfES to investigate the operation of capability procedures introduced to deal with the perceived problem of incompetent teachers. It revealed that the procedures suffered from a number of defects both in modus operandi and style and there was little evidence that their application resulted in either improved performance or dismissal when satisfactory performance was not achieved.

In the third part of our series on developing an HR strategy, Keith Rodgers explores the four core areas that really make or break a performance management programme Given the [...]

Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey has been chosen as one of six in the country to take part in a pilot scheme which will reward NHS staff with cash bonuses [...]

Giving employees honest feedback on their performance can be one of the toughest jobs a manager can do. Leaders often shy away from delivering the honest feedback their employees need [...]

Flexible wage systems, in which employers have some discretionary power in setting salaries and wages, are especially effective when economic conditions are uncertain, and can enhance the international competitiveness of companies in newly industrialized countries. Creating a flexible wage system is a detailed process, and its implementation requires extensive groundwork. Principles and guidelines for formulating flexible wage systems at the company level are presented, and examples of systems, drawn from different sectors of newly industrialized countries, are cited. Flexible wage systems based on both a profit-sharing model and a variable productivity payment model have basic wage components that reflect the value of jobs, and consider the company's performance and productivity, as well as individual performance, in disbursing payments.

Directors, managers, and attorneys of rural electric cooperatives should be subject to periodic performance appraisals, despite staff reluctance to have work appraised. Appraisals help executives get a clearer idea of how they are performing, and appraisals serve the interests of the members of the cooperatives.

Computer-based training (CBT) , which can be defined as a training tool kit of approaches using a computer, can be a successful way to increase employee productivity and performance. Advantages to CBT include: self-paced learning; distribution; and standardization. Effective programs also identify individual needs and focus on problem solving.

The major fault of most performance evaluation schemes is that they do not pay close attention to the realities of managerial work. Performance evaluations must be integrated with managers' jobs for them to be useful and indicative. The measures a manager wants are: what people achieve, what people do and what people are. This translates into measuring: results, behavior and personal characteristics, respectively. The key is to show the manager how the program will develop the performance needed.

Improving the effectiveness of a performance appraisal system is analyzed, and methods for identifying weaknesses in existing employee rating systems are discussed. There are a number of reasons performance appraisal systems fail; problems include difficulties in identifying appraisal criteria, setting performance standards, reducing subjectivity and bias in human judgment, and inconsistent applications of the system itself. Techniques relating to the design of performance appraisal formats and training of raters can minimize measurement and judgment errors. In order to be successful, however, performance appraisal systems must be consistent with the realities of managerial work and the organizational environment.

Performance appraisals involve two aspects: performance improvement and salary administration. Can a single program encompass both tasks? Probably not, because their goals are so different. Salary administration looks backward at the employee's past performance and rewards the employee in comparison to others. Performance appraisals look forward, while seeking to pinpoint specific elements in the employee's work that need improving. The program used for employee evaluation must be suited to the particular task at hand: either salary review or performance evaluation, but not both.

Collaborative Labor Relations: The First Line Is the Bottom Line Several years ago, a friend of mine was flying cross-country in the company of a Japanese businessman. Browsing through the [...]

Performance appraisal -- why and how you should implement a due process approach to discipline Among the factors that shape the reality of contemporary industrial relations, declining productivity and soaring [...]

Performance appraisals, which are supposed to increase employee motivation, often accomplish the exact opposite. A team at Xerox Corp. determined that traditional evaluation methods were a negative force in the corporation. The team determined a new, more effective approach. It centered on goal setting between manager and employee, interim reviews, written rather than verbal appraisals, and regular surveying to gauge effectiveness.

Managing and coaching are strongly related and a manager who coaches well can expect winning performance from employees. Coaching requires four skills areas: observational skills, analytical skills, interviewing skills and feedback. Coaching should be structured to help a worker improve. Properly applied, coaching techniques are excellent at improving employee performance and employee morale.

Preparation before beginning a job assignment will help bring successful results. Steps that lead to performance success include: becoming technically competent by learning as much as possible about a subject; receiving training; and teaching skills to other people.