Size Doesn’t Matter

I see it all the time, nearly every day. When I work with business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives, we discuss employee performance issues, and the conversation and blame always turns to all the reasons and excuses for their poor performance.

I get paid, as a Master Business Coach, to help organizations, large and small, solve employee performance issues. These issues don’t change based on the business size. Every time we land on this issue, I hear the same things. I hear, “We can’t find anyone who wants to work these days.” Or “No one is accountable anymore.” Or “No matter how much I yell at them, I still can’t get them to work and do what they’re supposed to, so I end up firing them and looking for others to do the work.”

And herein lies the problem.

This is a universal issue, regardless of the size of the organization. I hear it with clients globally. It’s a big problem, but it isn’t always the result of hiring bad people or finding good people.

Good people and good employees are relatively easy to find. The issue often falls squarely on the company that hires them. The fact is that many good people with bad performance don’t clearly understand what they’re supposed to be doing. I was shocked how many company executives and business owners told me they didn’t have clear and concise job descriptions for themselves or their staff. How in the world should someone be expected to do a great job if they’re not sure what that means? So, I always ask the ten-million-dollar question, “Do you have clear and concise job descriptions?” And more times than I’d care to see, I see a look of shock on the faces of my decision makers.

Every business owner, entrepreneur, or executive has a powerful responsibility to clearly define WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE for every job in their company. The lack of this understanding is a strategic power move for some. I worked with an executive who told me that as long as the ambiguity of what a good job looks like existed, he could “beat up” employees at any time. He could impose ire, and consequences on unsuspecting employees who were trying to do a good job, even if they didn’t know, for sure, what the totality of the job was.

But in today’s competitive marketplace, that kind of thinking goes the way of cassette tapes. It is simply unsustainable. Here’s why.

Q: How can you have a consequence (get a raise, or get fired) without clearly defined accountability?

A: You can’t.

Here is the management/employee success formula that I’ve come up with, and it works.

• Accountability must have a Consequence
• A Consequence must be tied to Accountability, and
• Without one, the other cannot exist. (Mic drop)

So, I teach a method of writing great, clear, and concise job descriptions based on the killer and foundational question: WHAT DOES GOOD LOOK LIKE?

First, we need to define what good looks like for every position. Ask yourself, what is the Accountability necessary for this job? Once we understand the Accountability, then and only then does Accountability equal Clarity.

Then, to be clear, we must create Metrics to define accountability. Metrics can be based on several things. For a salesperson, the metrics can be as simple as having an established goal and then achieving that goal or not. For other jobs, metrics mean defined key results, meeting and exceeding expectations, being on time, getting reports on deadline, etc.

Metrics define Accountability.

Once we know how accountability is defined, we’ve now defined exactly what GOOD looks like. And now and only now can we have Consequences (rewards or reprimands).

So, ask yourself this. We know that when people know precisely what’s expected of them, they will do a great job, enjoy coming to work, and want to stay healthy so they can come to work every day to a job they enjoy. It’s either having people like this or having a staff who shows up at a job they can’t stand to pick up a paycheck. It’s the difference between them having your back or just being there for the money.

I’ve seen this formula quadruple growth in start-ups to billion-dollar organizations. When everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to do, we find they’ll do it. And when that happens, everyone’s job gets easier. There’s less confusion, people become more entrepreneurial, and you know what? Life is much more enjoyable when you reward people for doing a great job than it is to reprimand them.

Everyone wins when everyone knows exactly what good looks like.