Ever notice that some of your employees tend to be more productive, while others spend their shifts ignoring or grumbling about their duties? Chances are, your job descriptions are out of date for these low performing employees. These folks are “checked out” and not producing the quality or scope of work they once did, or maybe never have due to poorly designed job types. Let this go on for too long, and your entire organization suffers from low productivity and disappointing revenues.
If you want to engage more people and build teams in the workplace, then you must be mindful of how well you describe the actual duties and responsibilities of each job type. This should be an ongoing effort, particularly as industries change and training takes on new forms.
The more you invest in making work rewarding, the better able you are to provide an environment in which teams flourish and leaders emerge.
To help improve your overall workplace performance, start with the basics of human resource management: conduct a job analysis. While this takes time and effort, the payoff is well worth it. Here’s how to do a job analysis in 4 steps.
Step 1 – Evaluate Job Skills
The first aspect of conducting a job analysis is to find out exactly what skills belong to each job type. Check industry sites, the Department of Labor, and One*Net for updated descriptions of specific job types and the skills that fall under these roles. If you see some skills that don’t make sense, put those aside as they may add up to a new job type within your organization. Then re-write your job descriptions, matching up existing staff with the appropriate job types.
Step 2 – Review Job Efforts
Does your company have an existing performance review system in place? If so, is this conducted consistently or sporadically? Review the current job efforts with management to find out who your top performers are, and who is not meeting performance goals. Then set up time to group high performers with low performers as mentors, with opportunities for more employees to receive recognition for work well done.
Step 3 – Consider the Work Environment
For many employees, a lack of engagement is tied directly to the environment in which they spend a great deal of their week. Check for poorly lit areas, equipment that is not working well, uncomfortable chairs or work spaces, non-ergonomic surfaces, outdated office spaces, a drab break room, and clutter. Consider investing in an office upgrade, giving employees a reason to get more energized an engaged at work.
Step 4 – Go Over Compensation
If it’s been a while since you’ve reviewed job types and duties, you may not be keeping up with industry acceptable pay rates either. Multiple work studies have shown that approximately 25 percent of all workers are shopping around for a better job, especially your top performers. This leads to non-engagement for your company. To help encourage employee engagement and loyalty, consider giving everyone a raise across the board.
Getting employees engaged is an ongoing effort that takes careful planning, incentive plans, and development of key players. However, when employees are satisfied with their roles, they are more apt to work harder and produce better results. Consider employee engagement as a critical aspect of your success.
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Central & Southern New Jersey. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @CarnegieJersey.