10 Signs That Your Systems Are Stopping Staff Performance

Introduction

“If your systems are poor your people will fail”. Smart managers know this. But how will you know when a system is causing major staff performance problems? Consider these 10 telltale signs.

1. The Ongoing Problem

In almost every business there’s something you never get “just right“. It may not be a major issue. It’s probably something you’ve become used to. But you’d prefer that it stopped happening.

2. The Recurring Customer Complaint

This is easily identified by the response, “Customers always say that“, or “It’s only a minor issue; it’d cost a small fortune to fix”, or “We’re not perfect but our customer service is vastly superior to all our competitors”. These are simply excuses for not doing something about the problem.

3. The “Can Do But Don’t” Issue

You know that your staff are competent. You’ve spent lots of money on training. Testing shows that the training works. But your staff fail to apply the training on the job.

4. Problem Dumping

This is easily identified. A staff member comes to you and says, “What do you want us to do about this, boss?” or “Can you look at this boss and let me know what you want me to do?” or “Can I leave this with you for a decision please boss?”

5. Not Meeting Performance Standards

You do all the hard word to set measurable, identifiable performance standards. Staff accept them as reasonable and attainable. They agree that you should use them to assess their performance. But they fail to achieve them precisely or in full.

6. Symptom Solving

This is a common event. An apparent problem is identified. It may be a late delivery, a call back on a repair, a clerical error or any one of umpteen little events that needs immediate action. We take the action. But we never ask ourselves whether we’ve merely solved a symptom B123and ignored an underlying problem.

7. Blaming

Something happens in the workplace. The event has negative effects. The immediate response is to find someone to blame. “Jane never completes her paperwork fully”. “Tom always upsets customers on the phone”. “Harry likes to irritate the office staff”. “Mary always complains about the computer system”. Familiar?

8. Personality Conflicts

This is a variation on “Blaming”. An error is made. A customer is upset. A production standard isn’t met. We roll out our “pet” excuses. “Production and sales can’t co-operate”. “Young Jack and Old Bill never see eye to eye”. The issue is explained away as a “personality problem”. No one investigates the system.

9. “It’s Not My Job”

This isn’t necessarily an openly stated opinion. But it’s strongly felt. Staff members feel, for whatever reason, that some other employee isn’t “doing their bit” or “pulling their weight”. They make no attempt to solve the problem. Their colleagues’ deficiencies are obvious to everyone else. When asked why they did nothing to rectify a situation, they reply, “It’s not my job“.

10. Deadline Shortfalls

You set deadlines for  projects to be completed or even for routine work to be processed. Staff miss the deadlines: usually not by much. By the time you discover that the deadline’s been missed, it’s too late to adjust or revise it.

Face The Reality

Every one of the above “signs” involves people. The easy way out is to see them as “people problems”. All these problems involve people. But that doesn’t mean that they’re caused by people.

“A poor system will beat a good performer almost every time.”

This is another reality every manager should accept. Here’s another that should underpin your staff performance strategies.

“The prime role of a manager in managing staff is to put systems in place that make it impossible for employees to fail.”

Conclusion

Please grasp this. Few employees are perfect. Few mangers are perfect. But it is possible to overcome personal imperfections with perfect – or near perfect – systems. When things “go wrong” in the workplace, look first at your systems. Then and only then, look at your people.

What To Do Now

Consider the 10 Telltale Signs.  Which occur in your business? What’s your response been until now? Do any of the signs suggest system deficiencies that you can address? Contact me if you feel that I could help or if you’d like my comments about a particular issue.