(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “You need high standards of performance, appearance and behavior in every part of your business.  Always explain what your standards are and why you have them…but never apologize for them.”       
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   We’re all in the ‘Hospitality business.

   We’re all in the business of making customers feel understood, respected, appreciated and special…and that goes way beyond the standard definition of ‘service’.

   To quote my brilliant friend, Bill Marvin, ‘The Restaurant Doctor’ (bill@restaurantdoctor.com)

   “Service is efficiently doing what is expected.  Hospitality is doing what is unexpected and uniquely personal to that guest in that moment.”

   At our award-winning Alive & Well fashion store, back in the day, that looked like:

   1. A choice of 6 kinds of tea, 2 kinds of coffee, 2 kinds of fruit drink or just plain spring water.
   2. Change Tables with 3 sizes of free diapers, wipes and cream in each customer washroom.
   3. Electric reclining massage chairs for husbands and boyfriends.
   4. A 34 ft Pirate Ship play area and pirate tree fort lookout for kids.
   5. 4 hooks and a mirror in each of our 50 change rooms, when no other store did that.
   6. The magic sign on all 50 change rooms that invited customers to ‘Please take as many items in the Change Room as you wish!’
       
      Whatever product or service you sell, what might ‘unexpected hospitality’ look like in your business? 
       
3. Fun Fact: While business-class passengers make up only 12% of all airline customers, business class seats account for 75% of total airline profits on many routes. How might you create a curated, up-market, special ‘high-touch’ experience that will increase your bottom line?
    
4. Reversible glue. An amazing new, water-based ‘reversible’ glue, will significantly boost recycling by allowing glued components to be easily separated at the end of their life cycle. Developed for the packaging, electronics, and automotive industries, this technology solves the critical issue where traditional adhesives currently make laminated materials inseparable, making them impossible to recycle.
    
   So, will you create ‘the next’ in your industry…or will you be the victim of those who do?  
    
   When selling your business, here are the 11 things a buyer will pay for. Much of my Biz Coaching is with business owners who are looking for a strategy and a plan to exit their business gracefully and profitably.
    
   They’re often surprised and disappointed that the business is worth less than they thought it was.  To download my insightful Biz Tool #B-8, ‘The 11 things a buyer will pay for’, no charge, Click Here.    

Now, to this week’s important topic:

Performance reviews should be an ‘ongoing process’…not an ‘annual event’:

In most businesses, performance reviews don’t take place at all and, in businesses where they do take place, they’re often dreaded by both parties and generally ineffective.  Here’s a simple thought…performance reviews should be a process, not an annual event.

If the employee’s performance is good, why wait months to tell them?  And, if their work is unsatisfactory, why let the non-performance carry on for months before mentioning it? 

Everyone who has ever tried to train a dog not to poop on the carpet knows that drawing this to the dog’s attention 6 months after the fact is ineffective and confuses the heck out of the dog.

So, performance reviews should be an ongoing, regular and immediate process.  Comment on, praise and reinforce positive actions immediately and explain how this action will move the business forward.  And, deal with non-productive actions immediately, explaining why it’s counter-productive and how it can be, and must be, done better…but do that in private.

There should also have semi-annual performance reviews that are more structured.  A key part of this process is to review their performance against the specific responsibilities, outcomes and activities documented in their agreed to Job Description.  Without a clear, specific and current Job Description, how does any team member know what’s expected of them, and how can you effectively measure their performance?

Effective and frequent ‘mini performance reviews’ should be part of your ongoing conversation, training, coaching and mentoring process for each team member. This is a much more effective approach than the typical once or twice a year dreaded structured performance reviews that are either boring non-events or hysterical and dysfunctional ‘blame and rebuttal’ sessions.   

Failure to regularly acknowledge, ‘thank’, reward and promote top performers is a big problem in many businesses.  When good people leave because they feel under-appreciated, you lose a major contributor, it costs you big money to find and train a replacement…and, if they go to a competitor, it hurts you doubly. 

A simple tip for tracking employee performance over time is to create a file for each person reporting to you. Every time they have a significant success, significant failure or behavioral problem, after you speak to them about it, make a quick note, date it and place it in their file.  Then, when you’re evaluating staff for raises or promotions you have an accurate, balanced record of their performance.

When the time comes to terminate someone, it’s also essential to have that written record of non-performance and proof that they’ve been talked to repeatedly about the need to get their act together, exactly when those conversations took place, and what the result was.  If you get sued for ‘wrongful dismissal’, the side with the best documentation generally wins. 

By the way, failure to deal with non-performance is one of the biggest problems in many businesses today.  Who are the ‘non-performers’ on your team that need to improve or move on …and what are you doing to deal with that?

Bonus tip:  When speaking with an employee about the need to improve their performance or attitude in some specific way, the magic question to ask is, “By when can we agree that this will be done?”   Agree on a clear and specific time by which the required improvement will take place, document it and then follow up to ensure that it has been done.  The world is run by those who follow up.  

So, everyone on your team is part of your value, or part of your problem.  What are you doing to reward and grow your ‘value’ people, and to rescue or dismiss your ‘problem’ people?  Ongoing mini ‘performance reviews’, combined with ongoing coaching, mentoring encouragement and recognition are much better than the traditional and ineffective annual performance appraisal ‘events’.

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.