No Nagging Required

Years ago, I figured out that I needed data around employee performance, so my decisions were objective, not subjective.

We ran customer satisfaction reports manually for a couple of years, but that meant that the management team saw the reports, but employees didn’t always see their numbers.  We never withheld the numbers deliberately, but you know what happens.  You get busy, and you start putting things on the back burner.  So when the office was busy, they didn’t always get the data compiled. 

That's actually how Quality Driven Software (QDS) was "born".  I needed a way for all the data to be compiled in reports and most importantly, for the employees to be able to log in and see their own scores.  You see, when the scores are handed down in printed reports, it feels "fishy" to the employees.  However, I never, ever thought that until I heard it from one of my employees.

I’ll never forget talking to an employee at an employee picnic asking how they liked being able to log into QDS and see their scores, instead of waiting for us to display the scores and comments on printed paper.  This employee, who was just an average performing employee, lit up and said “Oh, I love it!  Now I know it is really true.”  She thought that we were manipulating the reports.  She thought that maybe we were deleting the bad scores from certain individuals, and just "picking on" certain people (including her).  We weren't of course.  She simply had lower quality and more complaints.

So here's where the no nagging comes in:  When you make all of your employee performance measures  AND policies transparent (quality scores, absences, productivity, etc), the employee can measure their own success.  They know exactly where they stand.  And, according to the Gallup Survey, "Knowing what is expected of me" is a basic need for employee satisfaction.

When an employee cannot measure their own success, they lose trust.  Once trust is lost, the employees really don't care anymore.  

Make sure that you provide transparency in everything you do.  Because when you are transparent, the level of trust in the workplace will rise.  There is no secrecy, no surprises, and you’ve shifted the accountability from management to the employee.

Once “the score” is transparent, whether you are talking about quality scores, absences, bonuses, promotions, etc., your employees are now in control of choosing their own path.  You, aka management, are not the bad guy.  You didn’t make the choices that caused the employee to go down the wrong path, they did.

So, lay out your path, and let your employees choose their future in your company.