Why staff under perform and what you can do about it?

There are three primary reasons why employees do not perform to your expectations!

  1. A lack of clarity on what their manager expects!
  2. A lack of direction on how to achieve goals.
  3. Employee lack of motivation.

If there were a fourth reason, it might be that the employee simply isn’t putting in the effort. But I’d argue that if you address the first three points, accountability will follow naturally, and the employee will either become more engaged or leave for a role that’s a better fit. Either outcome is a win for both parties!

Let’s dive into each point and consider a few small tweaks that could turn this around.

Employees are often not to blame!

I do not believe under performance is the employee’s fault. Why? Because management often don’t give clear instructions on what and how to achieve goals. So how can we expect the employee to achieve their goal.

Putting into perspective

Let’s assume someone asks you to collect a product from a city that you have never been to. You are told the city and name of the product.

Whilst you have the big picture information (collect and return with a product) there are a lot of missing details. To make sure you get the right product, you’d need to know things like the exact address, directions, type of transport, time frame, and any special instructions for handling the product. Without those details, completing the task would be frustrating and inefficient

This is obvious information, but why are most managers not so specific with an employee when giving a goal? And let’s face it, when the do give a goals it’s often quite one dimensional, a financial target. And its presented as “Here’s your target, 3x times your wage. Hit that and get X% commission!”

Now that’s hardly a clear path to financial success, neither is the “goal” presented in an appealing way!

Note, this style of target or goal setting may work for employees who know the game, they’ve worked like this for years, great. For newer generations, faced with higher targets due to rising minimum wage rates, building a client base to meet these goals can feel like an uphill battle. It’s no wonder so many struggle to be motivated by their goal or get excited about ever reaching their targets.

Mapping 1

A different way of thinking

The simplest way to describe why employees don’t achieve their goals is the lack of meaningful direction. Above is a visual representation of what I mean:

We know it rarely a straight line from zero to hero, there are many twists and turns. Experience tells us that if we keep learning, keep striving we can achieve our goals.   

To help make things as efficient as possible consider the following points:

  • Identify current skills and the skills required to achieve goal
  • Agree Training and Mentoring
  • Set a range of goals that focus on the bojective
  • Identify incentives and rewards
  • Earmark check-in’s with the employee / performance reviews
  • Set a clear progression map
  • Celebrate milestones.

From the list above it’s clear how to help your team achieve their goals.

Building blocks

It's the Managers' Job!

I believe it is the managers’ job to identify the building block to success. A good manager will map out a clear path with the employee. Explaining not only the end goals but all the elements that will help the employee achieve their targets sooner.

Here are some ideas on the elements to focus on with team members who are looking to accelerate growth.

Define the end goal

  • For example the primary goal could be 1,700 service sales per week
    • Break the financial target down into average weekly, daily and hourly goals
    • Reframe the target as the minimum target threshold (rather than the ultimate goal)
    • Establish the best KPI’s for growth (not all employees are in growth phase – but if they are)
      • Knowing the optimum hourly service income goal
      • Knowing which services are the most profitable (highest ticket per hour)
      • Establish rebooking rate goals and measure against achieved
      • Set an ambitious client retention goal and measure against what has been achieved.

Refine skills through training

  • Product raining – encourage your employee to be passionate about the brand you use.
  • Refine the Client Journey
    • The welcome
    • Consultation for today
    • Consultation for the future and long-term goals for the client (create a plan with the client to achieve goals over a period of weeks or months).
    • Have the client Rebook for the next visit before leaving their seat
    • Define the client exit strategy
      • Confirm Homecare procedures and products
      • Confirm the next visit date – service – desired outcome
      • Reiterate the client long-term goal – all before leaving the chair.
  • Offer incentives to the employee that relate to them (financial rewards or other)
  • Schedule check-in points with the employee
    • performance reviews
    • review expectations at key points
  • Give encouragement, recognise achievements along the way, celebrate progress and importantly, give guidance where needed.
career building

Reframe your thinking and employee expectations!

When the manager clearly understands the employee goals, it is easy to check-in with the team member, confidently reafirming goals and making it easier to hold employees to account.

You each know what’s expected and what good looks like. You can use tools to help you communicate with employees and help track progress.

Loop HR career progression mapping helps you, help your team move in the right direction.

Consider what you reward, when you reward, not all rewards have to be tied to sales data and not all rewards need to be high value commissions.

Consider fixed value bonuses, do your costings before committing to paying a bonus and find ways to reward smaller achievements, even if it’s just a box of chocolates, bottle prosecco or gift card for movie theatre. It’s the recognition that triggers the endorphins, not the size of the prize. Reframing how you think about targets, communicating goals and rewards could be the catalyst you need to make significant shift in your business.

Start by mapping out the suggestions in this blog to see how they can reshape your business. And if you’d like a hand implementing these changes, don’t hesitate to reach out, I'm always happy to help!

Book a discovery call with me, Ian Egerton, using this link.

Ian Egerton

Founder, Loop HR