Darren runs a relaxed, friendly business. His old boss was a taskmaster and jobsworth, and he knows how much he hated it. He finds when his workers are happy it rubs off on customers. But his team are a bit too relaxed.
He chats through his concerns at Friday drinks. Things improve for a while, but after a couple of weeks standards start to slip.
If staff don’t raise their game he’s going to start losing business. Things must change, but on the other hand he doesn’t want to lose the culture he’s taken so long to build.
Treading carefully, Darren introduces performance targets.
He asks workers to complete an average 15 jobs a week. He looks at their averages weekly, only steps in when necessary, and once people are on track he only checks on his worker’s progress once a month.
He also asks clients to rate employees’ service and timekeeping when he emails their invoice. Employees who get 75 per cent five-star ratings, three weeks in a row, get a case of beer at Friday drinks.
Staff get behind the healthy competition. In fact, they enjoy being kept on their toes. Darren retains a sociable and friendly culture, but the new performance goals help make his expectations clear.