5 Best Ways for Tracking Employee Performance
We all like to keep track of things. Whether it’s your own personal goals or goals in business.
But as a small business owner, it’s important to be able to keep a track of your employee’s performance. This is so you can spot any over or underperformance and then take action to reward or fix it.
Identifying problematic areas can be difficult. So by monitoring your employees’ performance, you can go some way to catching an issue before it becomes a real problem.
But what is the best way to do this? We’ll give you some tips and tricks and the 5 best ways for tracking employee performance.
Here’s What We’ll Cover:
1. Set Out Clear Goals and Expectations
2. Create Long-Term and Short-Term Goals
3. Use Employee Monitoring and Time Tracking Software
5. Improve Your Leadership Skills
1. Set Out Clear Goals and Expectations
One of the best ways to track employee performance is by letting employees know exactly what’s expected of them.
If there are clear guidelines and strategic goals set out for everyone, then it should be relatively easy to see who is lagging behind.
It’s up to you as an employer to ensure that each employee is thoroughly taught what their job entails. It's also important to make sure they are aware of what is expected of them within each specific project or task.
2. Create Long-Term and Short-Term Goals
It’s important to make sure that your employees are following both long-term and short-term individual goals.
Examples of short-term goals could be something as simple as making a certain number of sales over a particular period. While long-term goals could be more aimed towards their personal productivity and job performance over a quarter or a year.
Tracking both long and short-term individual goals can give you detailed reports on performances. This can be individual employee performances as well as team performance.
3. Use Employee Monitoring and Time Tracking Software
Productivity monitoring software is designed to track productivity metrics and improve efficiency.
Services such as FreshBooks are great tools for tracking time. FreshBooks is perfectly tailored for small business owners. It is smart, manageable software that is easy to use. Their Time Tracking services allow you to maximize your productivity. So you can make sure that when you’re taking a project head-on, every second counts.
Using software helps to eliminate bias. You can regularly review your employees to adjust particular areas that need improvement. You can also highlight the need for more employee training.
It’s a great way to provide detailed, constructive feedback to help improve your employees’ engagement levels.
4. Use Performance Appraisals
Giving your employees ongoing feedback on their current projects and project plans is key. It allows you to regularly check in with team members’ performances and make sure they are meeting expectations.
These manager feedback appraisals are performed annually, semi-annually or on a quarterly basis. They enable you to monitor employees’ workload and check in with the general employee morale.
It is also possible to use appraisals as a chance for further communication with employees about how they feel they are doing.
5. Improve Your Leadership Skills
It is proven that employees are more willing to work harder for a good leader.
By being an effective, engaged leader, you can get closer to your employees and get a better understanding of where your team is headed.
Regular dialogue boosts employee engagement and productivity - and it also is a great way to keep up employee morale.
Being a strong leader also makes employees feel more loyal towards you and the business. This can help minimize employee turnover and will go some way to ensuring the long-term success of your business.
Key Takeaways
Tracking employee performance doesn’t need to be a ‘big brother’ eye in the sky experience.
Whilst it is useful to keep a close eye on your productivity, it’s also important not to suffocate your employees. This can lead to low morale and make them feel like they aren’t trusted to do their work.
However, if productivity is showing a steep decline then it may be necessary to enact stricter monitoring measures. But make your employees aware that trust and productivity is a two-way street.
Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices?
Then check out the FreshBooks Resource Hub.
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