When you hear the words “performance management,” what pops into your mind? For many, it may be related to conducting annual performance reviews or correcting poor performance. Effective “performance management” goes far beyond those types of events, though. It influences not only what employees are doing, but what they have the potential to do for your company in the long-term.
Performance Management: A Process, Not an Event
Performance management, like training, is an ongoing process, not a single event. It doesn’t happen once a year or just under certain circumstances. For the most effective c-store managers, it permeates every employee interaction. Follow these tips to transform simply managing employee performance into inspiring employee improvement.
Set clear expectations. If employees don’t understand what is expected of them, they’ll almost always fall short. Write down both short- and long-term goals and make sure your team meetings and training sessions correlate with those goals.
Always lead by example. To inspire top performance, you need to be a top performer yourself. Actions speak louder than words. Your employees will pick up on your behavior, even when you don’t think they’re watching.
Coach the person for the good of the team. Employees will need coaching sometimes, that’s just a reality in this industry. No matter what the issue is, focus on the overall impact on the team, not failures of a single person. When individuals succeed, the team succeeds, and vice-versa.
Make “opportunity” more than a buzz word. Your employees don’t want to hear about how they can make a career out of their entry-level job – they’ve likely heard that before. Part of effective performance management is to truly give employees a path to reach their own career goals. Use cross-training, mentoring, and incentives to help them get there.
When you live the principles of inspirational performance management, you’ll see results in how your employees are driven to improve and work together to meet company goals.
Performance Management with Online Training for C-Stores
Training is the foundation of performance management. Click here to browse the learning library offered by Ready Convenience.
