Staff Performance Improvement: A 2020 Vision

Introduction

What will be happening in staff performance in 2020? What will be the most forward thinking business owners and managers be doing? What will be regarded as “best practice”, “benchmarking” and all those other jargon laden waffle words?

Three Little Words

I’ve spent almost 50 years in and around training and performance improvement. What will be different by 2020 can be summed up in three words: “Greater Staff Involvement“.

Nothing New

Before I say more, please understand that everything I mention is already being practiced by a small-medium business somewhere in the world. I’m suggesting nothing new, But I believe it will be common practice in small-medium business in 2020.

Greater Staff Involvement

In 2020, I believe that staff will have much greater involvement in

measuring their own performance
job autonomy and job control
selection of colleagues
team development
structure of rewards.

What I Don’t Mean

I’m not talking about what used to be known as “industrial democracy”. Nor am I talking about ” the inmates running the prison”. I am saying that we must learn to use our biggest and most expensive resource, employees, more wisely and more productively than we do today.

What’s Changed?

Technology: modern technology enables us to know so much more about what’s happening in our businesses. Both employees and managers have access to this information on a day to day basis.

Management Demands: the availability of performance information means that managers are better prepared to respond to market pressures. It also means that managers can be more concerned with “the big picture” as employees look after routine matters. And the use of social media means that by 2020, managers will need to be far more involved in PR and marketing.

Employee Expectations: the “good old days” of the loyal, conscientious, dedicated, unquestioning employee are long gone. Already staff are seeking greater autonomy. They want greater respect to be shown for their opinions. By 2020 this autonomy will be far more widely expected.

The Benefits

A manager can manage effectively only if day to day routine work flows smoothly and effectively. More and more managers are starting to understand that reality. The majority will practice that management style by 2020,

Employees will be able to respond to day to day pressures quickly and effectively because they’ll have accurate and relevant information on demand. They’ll be able to bring their experience and expertise to bear because they’re so well informed.

Customers will benefit from having better informed managers and staff to deal with. And managers will have more time to interact with customers as they have less and less involvement in day to day routine.

Implications

Many small-medium business owners and managers are already moving towards what I’ve suggested. They’re allowing employees to set their own hours, create effective performance systems, contribute to the establishment of rewards and incentive programs and negotiate roles and goals with colleagues to help achieve business goals. This will give them a major business advantage.

Greater employee involvement will help employees focus on overall business results and effective co-operation with other teams. The days of “I’m just a records clerk” will be well gone by 2020. Staff will need a broader range of skills and a willingness to “help out” rather than continue with the traditional “it’s not my department” approach.

Systems will tell employees “how they’re going” at the press of the proverbial button. They’ll need general appreciation of “how they’re going” from managers. But they’ll know without input from their managers. That alone will mean that they have far more control.

Staff will need to know more about company expenses, finances, sales and profitability if they are to contribute more effectively. Transparency in these areas between management and staff will be essential.

Other Issues

They are the main predictions for 2020 as I see them. You may also see higher retirement ages, greater use of contract specialists to satisfy short-terms needs, more part-time employees, less rigid procedures and more flexibility to achieve work goals and a generally far more liberal and flexible approach to staff management practice.

Social Media

I’ve deliberately avoided the issue of social media. My concern is with on job employee performance in 2020. But managers who don’t use social media extensively in 2020 may be seriously disadvantaged.

Conclusion

This article describes what I see happening in staff management in 2020. All of the things I’ve described are already in place in some companies in 2011. Isn’t it time you started planning for the staff management of the near future. Please leave your comments.

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