State and Restate the Mission of Your Organization

Get Out Of Your Office

Set Specific, Measurable and Attainable Goals

1. The goal needs to be specific so the employeeknows exactly what is acceptable and what is not, and how to besuccessful. A goal of “Go out and do a good job” is not specific enough tobe meaningful. Do you mean “Be at work on time”? “Have reports in by 3p.m.”? “Work more collaboratively with others”?
2. The goal needs to be measurable so that both theemployee and the boss can evaluate if the goal has been met. “Increasesales this quarter” is a nice idea, but it’s useless as a goal. Do youmean “Boost sales by 10 percent, 25 percent or 75 percent”?
3. The goal needs to be attainable. This is wherenew employees, eager to be successful, often fall short. The boss needs towork closely with each employee to ensure that goals are within reach.

Recognize Effort and Success

1. Sending an e-mail congratulating the individual.In addition, personally meet with that person and tell him/her how youvalue and appreciate the accomplishment (and even the attempt).
2. Sending an e-mail to other people on the team, inthe unit or in the company announcing the success, even if it’s a smallsuccess. Little successes ultimately lead to bigger ones.
3. Clearly mentioning the accomplishment at thenext team, department and company meeting.
4. Putting a note in that person’s personnel file.
5. Making sure the employee’s manager realizes thesuccess and remembers to write it in his/her performance appraisal review.
6. Putting a notice in the company newsletter.
7. Sending an announcement to the local newspaper.

Observe and Ask

1. Ask what kind of tasks the person likes best. Challenging?Easy? Complex? Creative? Repetitious? Concrete? Abstract?
2. Find out if the employee prefers to work aloneor with a team. And in which scenario is he/she most productive?
3. Determine what you as the boss can do to removeobstacles in the way of ensuring high performance.
4. Observe how effective and efficient the personis with different kinds of tasks, individually and on teams.
5. Determine the person’s level of accuracy andproductivity with different kinds of tasks and with different individuals.

• Creating a Culture of Excellence
• Wanted: Fully Engaged Employees
• 101 People Problems Solved