Employee evaluation or appraisal is a primitive administrative art that is considered by many to be a dirty job, as it involves one person judging another, which always leaves a sense of dissatisfaction and a doubt whether it is a foolproof method. However, it is done by each and every company, big and small, as it is essential for the growth of the company. In some companies, it is documented as a proper appraisal system; whereas, in others it is done informally.

The evaluation systems should be designed in such a way that they lessen any bias on employees. There is no one method that is better than another and it all depends on individual organizational setting. A method most suitable for one may spell disaster to another.

Reason for Evaluation

There are several reasons why employee evaluation is done. It is done to see if an employee deserves a change in position or compensation, to determine if an employee is performing well during training, to see if an employee needs to be terminated or just as part of a continuous research on personnel that many companies conduct.

Who is evaluating?

The next step is to determine who is going to perform this evaluation on a regular basis. This is based on the kind of information that is sought and it may involve one or more people. It is also a good idea to have the customers and co-workers provide evaluation, as well as the employees themselves evaluating their performance. This way all angles are taken care of and the evaluation is bound to be more comprehensive. (more…)

One of the most useful tools of any business is the quintessential employee manual or handbook. It is a manual that is given to new employees on being hired, as a means to acquainting them with the company procedures, functions and policies. It is the most essential communication tool between the company and the employee.

The employee manual should be designed with a lot of thought and only those policies that are specific to the organization should be given and not general policies, making sure it is in an easily readable compact form.

Some of the main policies that may be included are:

Welcome Statement

To make new employees feel at home, most companies start with a warm welcome note from the CEO, which includes important details about the company; the creation, mission statement, goals as well as the role of employees in achieving those goals.

Orientation Process

Orientation process may include having the employee read the manual completely and some companies also allow new employees to use some office time in the first few days for reading it and schedule a conference to answer any questions they may have. Many employers also get an acknowledgment signed by the employee stating that the employee manual has been read and understood.

General Policies

The employee manual should contain the following basic policies of the company:

Attendance: This can be included to avoid any confusion over attendance expectations. Every company expects employees to arrive at the work place prior to the scheduled start time and be engaged with their work by the start time. Details of how time off should be requested and sick leave details are also outlined in this manual. Attendance is considered by many companies as an important facet of job performance. (more…)

Motivation is one of the primary concerns and challenges facing today’s supervisors and managers. This article will introduce you to techniques for creating a proper motivational climate. You will also learn how to apply the techniques for motivating employees, prepare individual action plans to solve on-the-job problems, and identify causes of low morale and strategies for improving overall employee behaviors.

Your staff members are the key to your success, and motivation affects employee performance that ultimately affects the departmental, divisional and organizational objectives. Only satisfied employees lead to satisfied customer.

• Motivated Employees Make Your Job Easier

To be a successful manager/supervisor, you must first understand that you cannot motivate anyone; you can only create an environment that encourages and promotes the employees’ self-motivation. Motivation is getting people to do what you want them to do because THEY WANT to do it. The challenge is to give them a reason to want to do it because doing it will satisfy a need they have. You have to tune in to their needs, motives and reasons, not yours.

Secondly, you must also know what kind of behavior you want the staff to demonstrate. In other words, what do you want the employee to do differently ? For example: Do you want your staff to be punctual, more committed to work; co-ordinate with others in a friendly manner; meet deadlines; assume more responsibilities etc. You must first be clear about your objectives and expectations before you can communicate them to your staff.

• You Are the Motivator

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you are the most critical component in the motivation process. Your actions set the tone, trend and tempo of the process. Many managers / supervisors embrace a ‘carrot-and-the-stick’ approach to motivate their staff. These practices take the form of incentive programs, promises of promotions, rewards and bonuses. Some others employ the symbolic ‘whip or club’ by emphasizing the negative results of their behavior. For example, a manager might say: If you do not start coming to work on time, you’ll be fired ‘ or ‘You will never get ahead if you continue to make these kinds of mistakes’. All these methods are just short-term and create no permanent behavior change. (more…)

The person who can make hard things easy is the trainer.

Training needs analysis is the first step in the training process, and then we start setting learning objectives whereby we answer the following critical questions :

1. What must the training achieve?

2. How will the trainees be affected ( i.e., improved )?

In order to design an effective training programme, we have to translate performance deficiencies into training needs. If you know that salespersons do not sell well, and you have discovered that this deficiency is due to lack of product knowledge, then your learning objectives must address this issue

Why Write Learning Objectives? —— Five valid reasons:

1. Objectives give you a clear direction for training activities. As a trainer, you know where you are going an how will you reach there. Your time on designing a training programme is properly utilized.

2. Objectives give direction to other co-trainers who focus on the same direction. Consequently, they bring about uniformity in the training programme.

3. Learning objectives also motivate trainees to grow as they clearly see WIIFM (what’s in it for me ) that keeps them interested, involved and motivated. (more…)

We all have something to say, but how we say it (or choose not to say it) can make a tremendous difference in the workplace or our personal lives. If you feel your communication skills are not up to par, consider working through the following to make you more effective at sharing your thoughts both at the office and among friends.

Listen

The first step in good communication is to listen to what others are saying. If you are so focused on saying your piece, you’ll miss important points and could even offend those around you. Listen to the points colleagues or friends are making. When they have finished their thought, go ahead with your own. It also helps to build relationships if you can address another’s comments in your own.

For example by saying, “I agree with Mary that we should expand our target demographic…” will be much more effective and demonstrate that you are a team player better than the more self-centered, “I think we need to…” By acknowledging that you are listening, others will pay more attention to what you say in return and respect your style of communication. Besides, being a good listen is just plain polite. (more…)

Training needs analysis process is a series of activities conducted to identify problems or other issues in the workplace, and to determine whether training is an appropriate response.

The needs analysis is usually the first step taken to cause a change. This is mainly because a needs analysis specifically defines the gap between the current and the desired individual and organizational performances.

Who Conducts Needs Analysis & Why?

An in-house trainer or a consultant performs a needs analysis to collect and document information concerning any of the following three issues :

1. Performance problems
2. Anticipated introduction of new system, task or technology
3. A desire by the organization to benefit from a perceived opportunity

In all three situations, the starting point is a desire to effect a change. Given this, you must know how the people who will experience change perceive it. In the absence of a needs analysis, you may find employees resistant to change and reluctant to training. They may be unable to transfer their newly acquired skills to their jobs because of the organizational constraints.

A needs analysis often reveals the need for well-targeted training areas. However, we must keep in mind that training is not always the best way to try to close a particular gap between an organization’s goals and its actual performance. Those conducting the needs analysis must get a clear idea of the problem, look at all possible remedies and report on their findings to management before deciding on the best solution. (more…)