By Debbie Hilary Quaye
It is expected of all workers to pull their weight at work and perform well by using their talent and skills to the fullest capacity. But often employees struggle to get best results.
It is the duty of the employer, leader of a team and the employee to help bring performance levels to the peak. As a leader, shouting and demanding that everyone puts in their best will not go far. Empowering your workers will help them become efficient enough. Guide them to put in place their own strategies, goals and targets which they will be held accountable for. This will make them happy and feel valued, which will help to produce better results.
On the part of the employee, it is important to identify the source of the performance struggle or failure; it could be that you lack the needed skills for the work or not a team player or lack clarity on expectations, or lack motivation. In all these instances, training and retraining will be the best way out to help employees enhance their performance.
It is expedient for an employee to upgrade him or herself by acquiring new skills and knowledge, which would contribute in enhancing performance at work. If it is necessary to take up courses, participate in seminars and workshops to enhance one’s knowledge and be abreast of modern trends in a worker’s field.
It may also be that, the current role is not the right fit for the employee so it becomes difficult to perform. In such a case, changing your role altogether will be ideal, but also on the job training canbe organised for the worker to learn the role on a practical level.
Using the right tools and technologies in your work can also help to enhance one’s performance. Better results come when the team is equipped with the proper resources needed to perform the job successfully. In today’s world where technology is taking over sphere of work, there are many technological tools and systems which have been created to enhance work, and these could be accessed for improved worker performance.
Enhancing performance also requires help and change in habit. Struggling employees should find themselves a mentor; someone who will encourage their progress and navigate career development opportunities within the organisation. These persons will be there to guide, shape and monitor their work and also motivate them.
Distractions are the bane of productivity, so if an employee wants to enhance performance, focusing is the key element. Do away with things that distract them; focus on the work, expectations of the organization; its vision and mission and the results intended to be achieved and work towards them.
It is said that if your heart is not into something, then you will not put much effort into it. Being passionate about your job contributes to producing good results. Once you love what you do, you tend to put in the zeal and maximum effort into the work and also work with happiness which enhances performance.
