The Cost of not managing employee performance

There is a big opportunity for companies of all sizes to increase productivity, efficiency and growth by improving the way in which they manage employee performance.

It is an area of business many managers find difficult, usually because less attention is paid to it. Yet with a small amount of time and attention there is huge financial opportunity. In particular, there are five key areas that can transform a company’s return on the cost of employment i.e:

• making sure you recruit the right people for you;
• managing absence;
• managing staff turnover;
• making sure you don’t fall foul of increasingly burdensome employment legislation;
• recognition; and making employees’ working lives as interesting and enjoyable as possible.
  

Recruiting the right people in the first place is essential. Paying attention to the right skills and attitude, taking references and organising a proper induction makes an immediate impact on your business. Good people motivate other employees and impress your customers. With regular training they increase their skills and, most importantly, their confidence. The wrong recruit is expensive to motivate and train and often you tend to live with them rather than letting them go. If things start to become difficult, i.e. they are late or off sick, or their work is not up to standard, many managers do not confront the issue early enough. As a result a small problem that could have been resolved via an early adult and honest conversation turns into a big problem that is tedious for all concerned to be involved with. In the worst case scenarios situations end up at an employment tribunal causing a lot of expense and grief for all involved. The advantage of getting things right to start with are clear to see.

Managing absence and labour turnover with clear policies and practices is not difficult, and very expensive if you are not on top of it. There are many opportunities for employees to be away from work these days, i.e. holidays, ill health, parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave are all legal rights) and companies need to have clear policies so that employees know their entitlements and do not exceed them through no fault of their own. We have worked for companies that when they have analysed their holiday and absence records have been shocked at the amount of time taken by some employees. Good record keeping, a regime of things like return to work interviews (every time someone has been absent due to sickness) and guidance for employees on how to deal with issues such as stress, or if they feel they are being harassed or discriminated against, will lower your absence rates improving costs, stability and efficiency.
Deminos helps companies in these matters by providing quality, plain English, ready to use policies and guides which help in these important areas. A subscription service keeps policies up to date and customers can also use the website for 365/7 access to the current employment law situation (again in plain English) and Forthcoming Developments provided by top London law firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw. Policies are either used as is or customised to suit. Deminos will provide a customisation service if required. The aim is to make life easier for busy employers at a fraction of the cost of doing things themselves, or by relying on expensive advisers.

Deminos ensures that customers do not fall foul of increasingly burdensome employment legislation. For example subscribers last year automatically received policies on adoption and paternity leave in February in anticipation of the new rights that came into effect in April 2003. They also received an updated maternity leave policy and guide in view of the changes to maternity leave legislation in April 2003. Discrimination policies were been updated in view of the changes in July 2003 as a result of EU legislation being adopted in the UK. Again, the website on Forthcoming Developments provides everything here a company needs to know about changing employment law and the practical guides include standard letters (e.g. for maternity leave) that can be time saving and generally very helpful.

Last but not least, one of the keys to managing employee performance is making work an enjoyable part of an employee’s overall work/life balance. For many of us life is not easy with many priorities to juggle. Recognising employees for good performance and helping them improve by good feedback and training help productivity and a company’s reputation as an employer; and make a real difference to the bottom line.

Deminos are HR Outsourcing and employment law specialists. To find out more, please use the menu on the left, call us on 0191 460 1111 or click on http://www.deminos.co.uk