How to Separate the Strongest from the Weakest

There are great employees that come to work on time, get the work done, and are generally a joy to work with.  There are less-than-great employees who come in late or leave early, consistently miss deadlines and require lots of managerial oversight.  Determining the costs between these two types of employees can, and should, be done in order to make informed talent decisions.  Read on to learn how.

Enjoy!

Gary

One of the biggest problems in talent management is managing poor-performing employees.  While one bad apple may not spoil the entire team, several bad apples can be disastrous. 

Knowing the true costs of employees is key to talent management.  It also helps with the organization’s overall productivity and revenue.

There are four easy steps in calculating an employee’s monetary worth.

1.      Determine the Average Employee Worth (AEW) – This number is calculated by dividing the total revenue of the department or organization by the total number of employees.  For example, a design team of 5 with a revenue of $600,000 equals an AEW of $120,000.

2.      Determine the Weak Performer Differential – Compare the AEW to each employee’s actual revenue.  This will create a best to worst ranking for each department.  It will also show how strong the strongest are versus how weak the weakest are in terms of performance. 

3.      Determine other costs – This includes other performance considerations such as absenteeism, missed deadlines, employee attitude, errors and theft.  These considerations may vary based on the job. 

4.      Determine if weak performers can be made into strong performers – Many times weak performers can improve quickly and easily through coaching, retraining, and frequent performance evaluations.  This strategy can be employed for 6-12 months to determine if the employee is improving.  Other times, weak performers are simply draining time, morale, and revenue from an organization.  The hard decision to release the employee will need to be made.

When an organization learns the true worth of their staff, everyone benefits.  Strong employees are validated through data.  Weaker employees can be encouraged to improve.  The weakest employees can be released if that is the best option for the organization. 

In our next article we will explore ways to manage those employees who are simply not working out.
Gary Vice is sought out by leaders in Software and Services who recognize the need to attract the industry’s best talent.  Through Strategic Recruiting Partners’ extensive network of relationships, they are able to identify high level opportunities for well qualified candidates.  To discover how this process can benefit your job search, simply reply to this email or call Gary at 469.402.4008.