Let’s talk about assets and liabilities. Specifically, let’s talk about which of your employees are assets and which are liabilities. Every member of your team is either helping you to move forward or holding you back. Wait, you may say, that’s not completely fair. I have good people. Maybe not perfect, but still a solid team.
Okay then, let’s talk about a few points on a range: liability, good, better, perfect. And let’s reflect that on a 10-point scale. Five or below is a liability. Six is good. Eight is better. 10 is perfect.
Now give each of your employees an overall performance rating on that 10-point scale. Feel free to use intermediate numbers, for example, nine for someone on the high side of better, but still not perfect.
Now let’s drill a little deeper. What are some of the specific criteria that led to your overall rating? I’d like to suggest these as a starting point.
- Job skills
- Initiative
- Loyalty
- Time management/organisation
- Work ethic
- Likeability
- Trustworthiness
- Potential for advancement
- Communication skills: Verbal
- Communication skills: Listening
As noted, these are meant as a starting point. You may feel that you can list several items under job skills alone.
The idea is to flesh out your overall rating with some specifics. The next step is to give each employee that same 1-10 rating on each of your individual criteria.
The goal of all of this? To identify specific areas for improvement. And that, I think, is your greatest opportunity in 2024 and beyond – to strengthen your human resources.
Sure, you can make meaningful investments in equipment, software, facilities, etc., but the greatest bang for your buck can probably be found in your people.
Turning a six into an eight can have real impact on your business. So can terminating a four and replacing them with someone who has real potential to become an eight.
One final note. I have done this exercise many times with my clients, and I always add one element to the process. I add up all the specific ratings and divide by the number of criteria.
For example, a total of 74 points spread across the 10 specifics listed above would yield an average of 7.4. More often than not, the owner or manager would have given that employee an overall rating of right or above. The point is, you’re probably not as happy with most of your employees as you think you are. But learning that – and learning why! – is the starting point for creating some improvement.
This first appeared in Australian Printer magazine. Read the original article here.
Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, a consulting firm serving the graphic arts industry
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
