When new employees join your company, they tend to be very excited to be working there. Things go along well for a month or two, but after that you see a minor slump. This slump continues on a downward spiral and it effects the entire company’s performance.
If you have noticed this slump at your company, don’t panic! As they can be easily rectified with some simple techniques. I have shared a few of them that will kickstart your employees’ performance back to where it was (or at least close to it) at the beginning below…
Set expectations and routines for your employees:
A report by Gallup found that only 50% of employees know what is expected of them at work. Therefore, it is very likely that many of your employees are stagnating because they have no idea what goals they are expected to achieve. It could also be that some of them might have had goals to achieve when they first joined the company, but new ones weren’t set by the management.
This is why it is important to make it clear to your employees what their role in the company is and what you expect them to accomplish from the get-go. You should also set deadlines and regularly track their activity. As soon as all goals are accomplished you should immediately set up new ones.
To ensure they pursue their goals relentlessly, you should consider using a convenient employee scheduling software. When employees have a schedule they can follow at work, they will build their entire life around it. They will wake up at a specific time, sleep at a specific time, have meal timings, etc. This becomes a routine and it makes them more productive.
Hire an integrator:
If you have very little time for creating a schedule for your employees or are a little stumped about how to create one, your best option is to hire an integrator. Integrators are specialists who will go through your business plan, fortify it and help build an executable process for you and your team. This includes breaking down your goals into smaller bits and creating a schedule to achieve them.
You can either hire a full-time integrator or a freelance integrator depending on your budget.
Another option would be to hire an experienced productivity coach who will use modern creative techniques and exercises to motivate employees and boost their performance.
Provide equity:
You could also try giving your employees a little equity. They will begin to see the company through your eyes with a long-term vision. This will spur them to continue working at the same momentum as they did at the beginning. They will want the company to perform at its best, because they too will have their big pay day when their successful company goes public or is acquired. Equity will also make them feel like a part of the company.
This is why if you have some equity to spare don’t be afraid to share it with new employees. Even something as little as .5 to 1% will do. But make sure that they only get this equity if they work at your company for a certain amount of time (at least 2 years).
A Startup that understands the importance of providing equity to new employees is Buffer. As you can see in this post on their blog, they give new employees a choice of more salary or more equity.
This is a really clever way to get employees more involved in the company.
Promote healthy competition:
A simple technique you can use to catalyse employee performance is competition. By instilling a little healthy competition between your employees, you can get them to work harder. But remember not to make this too competitive as it can lead to harsh consequences.
Start off with something simple like employee of the week, where you give the best employees some extra time off or you give them a free winner’s meal. This will increase performance in the short term.
You can later have employee rewards semi annually or annually. This will boost performance in the long run.
Now use these techniques to improve employee performance…
These are the top 4 technique that startup entrepreneurs can use to ensure employees performance at their peak. Begin implementing them today and watch your startup grow quicker.
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