Set the Foundation, Communicate Expectations and
Get Out of the Way

A few years ago, someone actually did a study by interviewing thousands of employees at scores of firms to determine if communicating with employees actually adds to the bottom line. This study found that employee performance drives the financial results of the company. This study is akin to saying that the way to deal with starving people is to give them more food. Employees at many companies are starving for information. Feed them the information they need to understand the goals and objectives of the company as well as how their jobs fit into the overall scheme of the success of the company. The entire organization will be better for it.

Establish a High Performance Workplace
Set the foundation for a positive work environment through communicating your mission and values as well as developing policies and procedures that complement them. Your values should be based on trust and mutual respect. Once this is established, the behaviors your company desires from employees should be continually reinforced. For example, a healthy work environment actually encourages differences of opinions and opposing views. This results in better communications and superior decision making. A climate that respects and supports different ways of thinking and effective ways of dealing with the various ideas of its employees also makes for a more energized workforce.

As an underpinning for this respect, every company should develop Equal Employment Opportunity and Harassment policies and a mechanism to raise complaints without fear of reprisal. The reasons to implement, communicate and train your employees on these policies are numerous. The first reason is to create an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to work every day knowing that your workplace does not tolerate behavior that is demeaning or humiliating? This applies to companies of all sizes. A second reason is financial. Discrimination complaints can turn into lawsuits if not properly handled. Even when the company prevails in court, these lawsuits are expensive and embarrassing to the organization.

Start with the Basics
To establish this type of work environment, the employer must start with the fundamentals. Set a plan on where you want to be in three to five years and map out what has to be done to get there. Share this plan with your employees. This gives employees a sense of security as well as an idea of their own opportunities for growth. The worst thing a business executive can do is spend months working on a business or strategic plan and not share it with the employees.

Have the employees and their managers jointly determine standards of performance that are in concert with the goals of the company. Communicate often. Things to communicate include: revenue, profits, new clients, lost clients – and why they were lost. Employees should get feedback on meeting performance standards. These standards should be reviewed for relevancy often – every three months at a minimum.

Celebrate success together. Increased revenues are accomplished through the efforts of all of the employees not just the sales staff. The best way to communicate is through face-to-face meetings that allow for questions and clarifications. They can be periodic group meetings or one-on-one performance appraisals.

Set the stage for a high performance workplace, then stand back and watch things happen.