Step 3 to Your Most Productive Staff Ever

 

Written October 21, 2013 

 

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In the last two months, you’ve learned the first two steps to your most productive staff ever.

As a recap, they are:

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Step #1 – Set performance standards for every position in your company and put them in writing. Then share these documents with your employees to eliminate the uncertainty of exactly what is expected from them daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.

 

Step #2 – Perform timely evaluations for every employee (especially managers) of their progress to these performance standards. By doing so, you’ll continually improve self-motivation, employee engagement and the performance of every member of your team.

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Now, before I tell you what Step #3 is…

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Do You Realize that the Year is Already Half Over?

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So, have you accomplished half of your 2012 revenue goal yet?

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“No” Then what is holding your business back? Before reading on… really think about it and write down the top three things.

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Now, take a look at those three things and answer this even more important question:

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Are the three things you wrote down the same things that held your business back from accomplishing your goals and reaching your potential last year?

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How about the year before that, and the year before that, etc.

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If you answer “Yes” to the question above, I have some harsh reality for you. Whether the three things are marketing, sales, customer service, production, your people, etc., they are not what is holding your business back.

 

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So What is Holding Your Business Back Then? Well, Perhaps it’s YOU?

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If the same things continue to cause your business to fall short of your performance objectives, revenue goals or potential and you haven’t solved (or eliminated) them yet, then maybe they are not the source of your problems.

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The leaders of TOP Performing companies do what it takes to accomplish their goals and reach their potential.

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They don’t let unresolved problems hold them back. They solve these problems so they can concentrate on exceeding their customer’s expectations, increase sales and continually grow their business.

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When the technology you use to produce a quality product and keep your customers satisfied is outdated and unproductive, you change the software or purchase new equipment.

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When your ads and marketing stop working, you either change the ad or change the media.

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When your sales process no longer distinguishes you from your competition and closure rates drop, you change your message.

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Aren’t I right? “Yes!” Good, because that’s your job.

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Now, Back to Your Unreliable, Unmotivated, Unproductive People…

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So why is it then that you’ve allowed your people to continue to hold your business back?

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You make other necessary changes your business requires, but you’ve retained people who have continued to underperform month after month and year after year.

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Congratulations on your loyalty to them… then again, shame on you for allowing them to continue to prevent YOU from accomplishing your professional and personal goals.

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But as I said earlier, you can’t really blame them. Can you?

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You’re the one who’s failed to create a system to recruit the most qualified candidates, use all available resources to select the right people and continually improve the performance of your current employees.

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And this is by far the most important key to your success. Your people are your business. If you employee unproductive ones, your business will be unproductive.

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Whether or not you do (or can) replace your unproductive people, by not continually trying to improve the performance of your poor performers (& your TOP Performers too), their lack of productivity is your fault.

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So, It’s Then Time to Initiate Step #3 to Your Most Productive Staff Ever…

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Which is to:  Lead by Example.

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Once you create performance standards and evaluate every employee to these standards, do whatever it takes to help them improve. Give them the knowledge, training and skills to do their job better and accomplish their goals.

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But even before you do this… lead by example. Give yourself the knowledge, training and skills to become more productive to start accomplishing YOUR goals.

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Because if you are not as productive as you should be in your job, how can you expect your managers and employees to be?