Employee Relations and Performance Improvement

A common phrase we hear today is, “These kids don’t have a work ethic…” or “these people just want a paycheck…they don’t want to work for it…” ”I’m sick and tired of people calling in sick…you’d think in this economy people would be worried about their jobs…” And the comments, we’re sure, could continue.

So, why is it so difficult for employers to improve employee performance?

There are a variety of reasons:

1. Lack of clear organizational goals and alignment across the organization
2. Lack of clear direction from supervisors about work tasks to be performed and deadlines
3. Poor leadership behavior: supervisors and managers not following through, not providing adequate feedback and recognition, and/or failing to delegate properly
4. Rapid organizational changes with poor planning and execution of changes. Employees anxious and uncertain, and in some cases in a state of paralysis with performance
5. A poorly designed performance management system. People perform as they are measured and rewarded. And, if the measurement is skewed or biased, or the rewards are not robust enough–or consistent enough, performance will remain the same, but usually will decline.

So, what are employers to do? Call us. We can help. We have decades of experience in improving employee performance. We’ll get started by first asking a lot of questions to understand the root problems. We’ll then schedule some time to talk with groups of employees via focus groups, conduct some research to validate the problems, and then prescribe some solutions. Our solutions are in the form of shorter-duration, training program interventions. For some clients it may be that Conflict Resolution training is the answer, and with others it may be Customer Service training is what’s needed. Although, more often than not, the answer is really Leadership Training that is needed. Poor employee performance is usually a symptom of a larger problem. Either poorly trained supervisors or supervisors who have had training but are not being held accountable to demonstrate good leadership behavior.

If our diagnosis tells us that it’s as obvious as a ham sandwich that training isn’t the solution–we won’t waste your time or money. We’ll simply recommend one of our partners to you who can better serve you. We have partners in compensation and benefits analysis and consulting, performance management systems design, executive coaching, and many others that we rely on for various projects.

To get your employees back on track, give us a call at (561) 208-6480 or go to our Contact Page to send us an email to request more information.

If you envision your organization with a more positive culture where negativity is minimized, employees manage their peer and customer relationships much more effectively, communicate more effectively, and work more productively—contact us today.

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

THE CONFLICT DYNAMICS WORKSHOP (Half-day Workshop) (back to the top)

Key Learning Objectives:

To improve skills in managing conflict by identifying current destructive behaviors
To educate employees regarding the various responses to conflict and the negative impacts on peers, workplaces, and organizations
To educate employees on how to modify their conflict resolution behaviors from destructive to constructive on a daily basis
To improve overall interpersonal relationship-building skills both on the job and off

The workplace today is filled with a lot of negativity, employees who suffer from low self-esteem, and employers who have promoted leaders based on technical ability vs. their exceptional people skills and ability to resolve conflicts. Most supervisors practice “avoidance” strategies in the hope that employee squabbles and conflicts will simply go away—however they never do—and they only get worse as time goes on. This four-hour workshop provides employees (and leaders) with the ability to identify their own strengths and weaknesses in handling conflict. They’ll learn how to identify active and passive responses to conflict as well as responses that are constructive—and destructive. They’ll acquire valuable skills to modify behavior from destructive responses to constructive–that will ultimately improve peer and supervisor relationships, minimize internal complaints, and improve productivity. This is an essential workshop for clients who employ a greater percentage of non-exempt employees, as this population is typically an organization’s source for the most internal complaints to HR. For clients who employ more exempt level employees, the Conflict Dynamics Workshop provides valuable skills in working more collaboratively on project teams and gets employees to overcome “turf” wars and departmental barriers. Furthermore, employees develop better conflict resolution skills in working with customers, thus increasing customer and client satisfaction and ultimately profitability.

Prior to attending the Conflict Dynamics Workshop, employees will complete an online assessment of the Conflict Dynamics Profile (CDP). This assessment enables them to answer questions regarding their behavior during conflicts to identify their current pattern of behavior. The CDP is available in two report formats: an individual report format, which the employee will assess his/her own skills and a 360 degree formatted report in which co-workers and the employee’s immediate supervisor evaluates current conflict resolution skills. The 360-degree CDP compares how employees see themselves when handling conflict vs. how others see them. This process is very much an “eye opener” for a lot of employees who perceive themselves as possessing good conflict resolution skills. Through comparing how others view them against their own results, employees gain valuable insight into how to adjust their behavior to more constructive responses in order to improve relationship building and collaboration skills.

COMMUNICATION: BEHAVIORAL STYLES AND PATTERNS MODULE (Half-day Workshop) (back to the top)

Learning Objectives:

To examine the behavior of team members and how their behavior affects the team and work environment
To identify behavioral strength themes and patterns
To learn how to indentify and adapt to other team members’ behavior styles to build and strengthen relationships
Exploring the Equation
- Understanding How Behavior Styles and Communication = Peak Performance
- D.i.S.C. Profile Introduction
- Discussion of Strength Theme, Behavioral Pattern, Strengths, Weaknesses
- Leveraging the knowledge of the D.i.S.C. to improve team dynamics and relationships
- Trio Activity: Interpretation of results and personal action planning

The DiSC Classic Profile is a behavioral personality assessment. DiSC is based on the work of William Moulton Marston, the developer of the DiSC Model. Marston’s model examined the behavior of “normal” people and dhow their behavioral preferences are affected by their personalities, environment, or situation they find themselves in. This four quadrant behavioral personality profile test provides an understanding of people through awareness of temperament and behavioral styles. The DiSC Profile is a learning instrument designed to help people realize to what degree they utilize each behavior style. DiSC provides feedback to help people and organizations build productive teams and develop effective leadership.