Top Ten Reasons to Manage Performance Year Round

Do you let your employees slack off during the holiday season?This article will provide you with the Top 10 reasons to manage performance year round so that you don't face the same management problems in the New Year.Whether you're an executive, a manager or a team leader, the following information will be beneficial to you.

Ahhh, the holidays.A time for family, parties, good food, football, gifts and oh, yes - work.It's not last by accident in this list; to the detriment of organizations everywhere, work often comes last this time of year.Not that I want to be Ebenezer and dampen anyone's holiday parade.I enjoy the holidays as much as the next person.But I've seen leaders let up on employee performance programs during this time of year only to face the same management problems in the New Year.With neglect, they may even worsen.

So a word to the wise men and women out there who are trying to do well by their employees: The right time to manage your employees is NOW, as well as the other 11 months of the year.You will do your best work if you keep employee performance on the front burner, where it belongs, all year long.

The wheels are turning now.Some of you are wondering why you cannot relax for these last few weeks of the year and even through part of January.After all, you and your workers have toiled so hard.The answer is that you will toil even harder later if you put off important tasks today.With a doff of my stocking cap to all HR professionals out there, here are my Top Ten Reasons to Manage Performance Year Round:

1.

Complacency is a disease that plagues business.And guess what?It's contagious.The people in one department see their colleagues in another department slacking off right before or right after the company party, and they decide to do the same.Someone meets his goal for November and decides he can tread water in December.His counterpart takes the cue, whether she met her goals last month or not.Believe me, this illness spreads -- and quickly!-- once it gets started.The only known cure is to wash your hands of it from the start to keep it out of your organization.

2.Procrastination is complacency's cousin.The Big P sets in once people are already infected with complacency.Its symptoms include putting off the most difficult tasks from day to day, doing the easy things first, and busying yourself throughout the day with ONLY the easy things.Soon we forget the difficult tasks altogether.The cure?Control The Big C.If you keep that infection out of the workplace, The Big P is easier to manage too.

3.Habits are hard to break.That's why we want only good ones in the workplace.But if you let bad ones grab a toehold, even for a little while, they might just gain a foothold.Soon they have hoisted themselves all the way into your business, and the veteran hard worker who started coming late one Monday now makes a habit of it then and on Fridays too.Or the manager who "forgot" to use a key recruiting assessment tool once or twice now overlooks it all the time.One study suggests that given time, bad habits become learned behaviors, and we lapse back into them when we're under stress.Since stress is a normal part of the work environment, maintaining good work habits is a discipline we need to observe daily.

4.Set a good example for new workers.Bringing in new staff is a regular event at many places, even during the holidays.Put yourself in the new hire's shoes: How will she view the office partying the last half of November and all of December?How do you want her to see YOU?

5.Set an example for everyone.Closely related to showing the new person how work is done in your office is showing everyone else - your colleagues, your boss, your direct reports.Adopt a professional demeanor and it's likely to be viral - in a good way.

6.Manage performance while other business is less "busy." Perhaps some of the companies you work with have slowed down production a bit.Turn this external hiatus into internal productivity.While you have the time, review the things you and your staff need to improve, then put in place a plan to do so.

7.Control the things you can.This is closely related to items 5 and 6.You might not be able to do anything about another department's departure from the day-to-day routine, but you don't have to join them or beat them.Control your own space by managing well.Maybe it will rub off on the other guys.

8.Your competitors are not snoozing, especially if you are in first place and they are in second or third.If you are not in first place, this could be a good time to redouble your efforts and get there.If you are in first place, remember that old adage, 'The bigger they are!

9.Find ways to celebrate all year long.Really.Successful companies should reward their employees year-round, not just once a year.Yes, the end-of-year holidays are a special time for families and friends.But if you take the time to praise and recognize your workforce regularly, your business will reap the benefits year-round and expectations for unending special holiday treatment will lessen.

10.It's a kindness to your organization and to all of your employees to show off a well-managed workforce all of the time.Consider it a beautifully wrapped gift to everyone, including you.

Happy holidays!
About the Author

Jim Sirbasku is co-founder and CEO of Profiles International, a leading provider of human resource management solutions and employment assessments for businesses worldwide.

For more information about performance management, visit our website.

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Patients Are Dying For Attention

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Every year, multiple personal injury claims are brought against the National Health Service because of medical negligence cases that have either led to the death or serious injury of a patient.

The NHS has held an enviable reputation over the years as an institution dedicated to the health of the nation.It has been funded by the government and by tax payers money and, although it has experienced its ups and downs within its management, by and large it has been a worthwhile organisation that has saved the lives of millions of people through diagnosis and treatment.

However, the money that is ploughed into a system that Britain was so proud of, has tailed off.The investment from the government is not what it once was and with the growing population and the fact that people are now living longer, there is an ever-increasing strain on the NHS.

Because of this, drugs are not uniformly available to everyone, hospitals are having to use contractors for cleaning and cooking - something that would once have been done by hospital staff trained in absolute cleanliness - and there is a severe shortage of staff with the few available working unacceptably long hours and under performing in their duties.

This leads to untold difficulties.Human error is a part of life but when it comes to having peoples lives in your hands, standards have to be that much higher.Because they are not, mistakes are made, people suffer personal injury at a time when they have no choice other than to put their full trust in a failing system and they have to trust their lives to the doctors and nurses who are, themselves, suffering unbearable pressures.

Personal injury from medical negligence is something that is occurring more and more frequently.Doctors are tired after working double shifts and attention to detail unfortunately comes at the expense of patient's lives.Just this week, a twenty nine year old social worker lost her life to medical negligence after a hospital stay saw her have an operation to remove gall stones.

Normally a relatively straight forward procedure, there is a risk of internal bleeding afterwards and despite the woman's cries for help, doctors were too busy to attend to her.Her family were at her bedside and repeatedly asked the doctors to help her but they insisted she didn't need a review.

Vital signs were not regularly checked and many of the basic checks that would normally have been carried out, were missed.The woman bled to death in extreme pain.

It seems unbelievable in the modern day, with all our modern equipment and the amount of tax money that we all pay, that this could possibly happen.We are not talking about some third world shack style hospital with the local witch doctor performing rudimentary operations, this is modern day Britain with all its high-tech, well-researched, well tested and proven medical practices.

It seems ironic that we are losing people in these types of surroundings when it just seems so unnecessary.

Because of this, families are often desperate for answers and are just as often met with a wall of silence from hospital staff.This is immensely frustrating for those left behind.Their loved one goes for what should be a routine operation and never comes home due to something as simple as a lack of attention.

When hospital managers are not forthcoming with answers, families will often seek the assistance of a personal injury lawyer.When the hospital finds it has a law suit on its hands, they will then sit up and take notice.Compensation is often paid out in high amounts in these cases, and rightly so.

Yet for the families, it is more about finding out what went wrong and also for someone to be held accountable.Death of a loved one is one of the most difficult things to come to terms with but in this day and age, without explanation, it can be even harder.

About the Author

Shaun Parker is a leading legal expert with many years of experience in the compensation industry.

Find out more about personal injury at http://www.stewartslaw.co.uk

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