As the year winds down to a close and managers reflect on the accomplishments and challenges of the year, understanding the talent landscape is critical to effective planning for the new year.
If you’ve been conducting ongoing employee assessments in the Truvelop app throughout the year, you have a dashboard of grades for each employee providing a snapshot of the strengths and opportunities that exist. Accompanying documented comments and Sparks can provide additional details to develop an accurate analysis of your talent base.
Unfortunately, managers are not typically trained to manage teams and can struggle to understand how to analyze their talent and cultivate them accordingly.
The Truvelop app provides Management Cue Cards to help managers understand the scores for each employee and how to engage with them to maximize potential.
A+ team members are exceptional contributors who drive productivity and team morale. Taking them for granted without any acknowledgment of their value would be a huge mistake. The war on talent is stronger than ever so A+ team members will certainly attract attention from other companies. As the year winds down, managers will want to talk with these employees about their goals and opportunities for growth. Develop a plan for supporting their aspirations and goals to keep them engaged and motivated.
B employees are rising and steady performers with the potential to contribute at a higher level. This team member should be nurtured for future growth. Managers can motivate B team members by soliciting them for advice, feedback and input on projects. Engage these team members by creating individual development plans to help them develop skills needed to achieve their career goals.
C team members are lagging performers requiring direction and education. They shouldn’t be discarded, but instead, they should be encouraged to recognize ways they are struggling and opportunities for improvement. These employees would benefit from the creation of specific goals with a defined timeline to benchmark progress. Asking questions and opening the lines of communication can help managers understand each employee’s unique obstacles. Expectations should be clearly outlined and frequently monitored in the coming months.
Failing – or Replacement Players – pose a real risk to your team and organization. Failure to appropriately address issues associated with Replacement Players can foster resentment, mixed messages, and lack of accountability throughout your scope of influence and the entire organization.
Despite a detailed performance improvement plan, and consistent, frequent communication, an employee’s attitude or performance issues may be so high that regardless of the team member’s potential, he or she must be removed from the organization.
Here are a few steps we recommend when determining if it’s time to terminate and replace an employee:
- Contact your supervisor and HR Department. Consult them on your organization’s specific steps to move someone out of your organization.
- Review previous Truvelop scores and history, performance assessments or reviews.
- Review results of PIPs
- Ensure you have all documentation where you have discussed and documented performance or attitude issues and discussed these issues with the team member. If you have been using Truvelop, that will all be present in the team members’ Summary history.
- In conjunction with senior leadership and/or the human resources department, assess and understand the risks associated with terminating this team member.
While the end of the year is a time for planning and provides managers with the opportunity to evaluate their talent landscape to determine their capacity to achieve organizational goals, analysis of employee performance should be conducted year-round. Identifying opportunities for motivation or advancement, or those struggling to perform as expected can result in expensive – and at times, unnecessary – turnover.
Contact us today to learn more about our modern approach to performance management and development that actually improves the manager and employee relationship. Don’t just take our word for it, see what our Customers have to say.
