Goals for Poor Performing Employees
A workplace can be affected by an inefficient employee who gets things done slowly or whose weak attendance affects deadlines. Her lack of initiative may set a domino effect in an office environment, which can lead to angry calls and declining sales numbers. Poor performance is a problem that managers need to deal with immediately before it gets out of hand. Setting goals for a poor performing employee can boost efficiency for a more profitable organization.
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Motivation
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If an employee is not motivated in her job, it could result in poor performance. Goals can help keep employees motivated. Knowing what tasks you require them to complete and the areas in which you are expecting improvements sets targets and objectives for employees to work toward. The goals you set should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and have deadlines. Taking the time to review and commend her for her achievements can send her on the road to improvement.
Communication
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It is not enough to simply assign goals to a poor performing employee. Taking the time to communicate effectively gives her an opportunity to understand the task and ask questions. Lack of communication can result in an employee avoiding the task out of frustration, resulting in absenteeism, disinterest and missed deadlines. Communicating your feedback to the employee will make her feel valued and help her improve her areas of weakness.
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Condition
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An employee may have difficulty focusing because the conditions in which she is working make it challenging for her to complete the employer's tasks. She may not have adequate tools to work with such as the required software or technology. If she does have the technology, she may need time to first learn how to use it. Without tools and training. the employer's timelines could cause stress and make her unable to deliver. Before assigning a task to an employee, taking the time to set goals to ensure that she is adequately set up and trained with realistic timelines could change her performance.
Valid Measurements
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Setting valid measurements can determine if an employee is truly a poor performer or simply a poor performer as per a manager's high standards. If a manager and employee share different opinions on what is expected in terms of performance measures, the manager could experience what he believes to be an employee's poor performance. A manager should set goals based on measurements to which both parties agree. If a manager expects an employee to type a report but is slow to provide the draft, it could appear as though the employee is slow to deliver results when in fact the poor performance was not the employee's fault.
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References
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