IS THE TEAM PERFORMANCE YOUR CHALLENGE?... (Use The Principles)

In a recent diagnostic study of an organization, I found that one of the challenges of people leadership was to maximize the performance of their employees.

I said in a presentation to the top leadership team that one of the keys to this was increasing the discretionary effort that your people give you.

The CFO asked, “What do you mean by discretionary effort?”

I said, “It’s the work and ideas that employees give you without you asking for them.?It’s when people go above and beyond their job description.?If you can consistently extract this, you will be well on your way to leading a winning team. People who lead great teams of volunteers understand this concept.”

The COO asked, “How can you treat your employees like volunteers?”

I responded, “Let’s understand a few leadership principles that can be learned.” And I shared the following principles.

1.?UNDERSTAND THAT IT’S UNPAID WORK THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

If you want people to come in and work to their job description and nothing more, then ignore this whole concept.

But if you want people to add value to your organization, then it’s prudent to understand that every employee has the potential to give so much more.

If people love what they do, they’ll do it more and do it better.?Good volunteers do what they do because they have a heartfelt connection to the task that they are performing. As a result, they don’t do a mediocre job. They do an outstanding job and continue to find ways to improve.

Unfortunately, some managers see other leaders engage their workforce to such an extent that they demand it from their people.?This will not work!?

The most effective (sometimes challenging) means of getting your team to do more than what they are paid for is to draw it out of them, inspiring, engaging, and helping them to understand that they are making a difference.

Let me clarify it when I say unpaid work. I don’t mean extra hours in the office.?

• I mean the extra effort the team will put in when dealing with your customers.?
• I mean their ideas that can transform your organization.?
• I mean their passion and enthusiasm that would enable them to be more productive than employees who just come in to collect a paycheck.

2.?UNDERSTAND THAT THEY CAN LEAVE AT ANY TIME:

One of the significant challenges in leading organizations that rely on volunteers is to retain good people.?As such, they have to spend extra time building relationships, putting out small fires, and recognizing good work.?After all, they’re not getting paid, so any negative experience could see them leave, taking away their know-how that is not so easy to replace.

Imagine if you treated your team members as if they were volunteers.?How much of an impact would that have on your team attrition rates?

Industries are facing a shortage of good skills, so don’t take your employee for granted, or they will leave. It will impact the business bottom line when you go for their replacement, onboarding, and training.

3.?GIVE REGULAR PATS ON THE BACK:?

Many organizations that are reliant on volunteers have tremendous programs that enable them to show their appreciation on a regular and meaningful basis.?

Public appreciation, no public reprimand, volunteer appreciation days, certificates, and regular verbal recognition are just a few things that make a significant difference in creating a conducive culture in an organization.

4.?DELEGATE AND COACH:

As an executive coach, I’ve heard many stories where leaders complain about the pitfalls of delegation and the frustrating cycle when they don’t get the results they want.

Delegation generally has two broad steps.

First, assess how much your employee already knows about a given task or project. Ask a few direct questions:

• What is your level of comfort with this task?
• What approach would you take to handle this assignment?
• Are there steps you’re uncertain about?”

Then coach based on your employee’s competence level by Doing, Telling, Teaching, Asking the Right Questions and Supporting.

Delegation is a shared task. To do this, assess the learning capacity of your employee and split the load. It may take more time at the start, but you will get better results in the long term.

So,

• What sort of culture are you creating in your place of work?
• Do you go out of your way to recognize those who use their initiative and discretionary effort??
• Do you acknowledge the people who aren’t afraid to innovate and give new ideas??
• Do you take for granted the individuals who smile every day and help to create a nicer working environment?
• What difference would it make if you treated your team like volunteers?
• Do you have any other ideas that you would like to share?

* P.S. Please keep paying them!