5 Secrets to Maximising the Performance of Your People – Part 3 of 3
This is the final article in a three part series that explores the secrets to maximising the performance of your people. Part one and two discussed the importance of “Defining Great”, “Measuring Great” and “ Rewarding Great” for your people in order to maximise performance and productivity.
We follow now with Secrets #4 and 5
Secret #4: Develop “Great”
Many of your people will be highly engaged by the prospect of developing their current skills or the skills needed to progress their careers. However, in an attempt to meet this need many businesses will send their staff to generic leadership or management courses. If you have done this, ask yourself: what has changed since your people attended this course? Have you received a measurable return on investment? I have seen the best results from adopting the following approach:
- Start with a gap analysis – identify the development needs of your people relative to what “Great” looks like for their role or for roles they may hold in the future.
- Partner with a specialist business to target the specific development needs of your people. There will be some common needs across the group however there will also be individual needs.
- Hold your people accountable for behavioural change and results (both individually and as a group) following your investment.
Secret #5: Recognise “Great”
It is critical that we recognise and reinforce “Great” when we see it. This has as much to do with the behaviours people exhibit as the results that they achieve. Consider tweaking the following approaches to suit the motivators of people in your business:
- Regular “gatherings” to share and acknowledge successes can be a powerful reinforcement of your culture
- Acknowledge both teams and individuals
- Allow your people to catch each other doing “Great” things and articulate the impact this has on the business.
Many HR departments are perceived as cost centres, focused predominately on compliance and employee relations. With the right strategic focus, HR can be transformed into a profit driver through mobilising your people to maximise their performance (and have a great time while doing it).
