Inspire Success

What is 360 degree feedback

360 degree respondents can be the employee’s peers, supervisors, managers, team members, other staff members, customers, suppliers – anyone who can provide objective feedback on the employee. Sources should be chosen on factors such as their knowledge of the employee’s performance, the importance of their relationship with the employee and their ability to provide objective feedback and use examples to back up their opinions.  The process for identifying respondents should be clearly set out with employees having some opportunity to input. The feedback is typically provided on a form (paper or online) showing job skills/abilities/attitudinal/behavioural criteria and some sort of scoring or value judgement system. The employee should also assess themselves using the same feedback form. In order for the 360-degree feedback process to be effective, it is important that it be designed and used correctly. The confidentiality of everyone involved should be respected at all times and the feedback should be summarised and delivered to the employee by individuals trained in feedback techniques. Employees should always be offered support to act on feedback.

Why use 360 feedback:

360 feedback can help to identify strengths and development needs for the employee and also help managers by providing insights into their management and leadership role. 360 feedback can open up communications about performance because the process involves giving and receiving feedback from all directions in the organization. Understanding ourselves and how we interact with others helps us understand the impact we have on those around us. 

Companies typically use a 360 feedback system in one of two ways:

1. 360 feedback as a development tool to help employees recognize strengths and weaknesses and become more effective
When done properly, 360 feedback is highly effective as a development tool. Employees can gain insight into how others perceive them and have an opportunity to adjust behaviours and develop skills that will enable them to improve / excel at their jobs. It can tell you where the development is needed for your employees so you don’t end up wasting a huge amount of money on training that people don’t need.

2. 360 Feedback as a Performance Appraisal Tool
360 feedback focuses on behaviours and competencies more than on basic skills, job requirements, and performance objectives. These things are most appropriately addressed by an employee and his/her manager as part of the annual review and performance appraisal process. The 360 feedback can enhance your performance management system, by incorporating 360 feedback into a larger performance management process, but only with clear communication on how the 360 feedback will be used.

What does 360 Feedback measure

• 360 feedback measures competencies – for example leadership, decision making, problem solving, customer service, motivation etc
• 360 feedback can identify underlying attitudes and thinking patterns that drive behaviour  and even help resolve what is causing counter-productive actions
• 360 reviews provide feedback on how others perceive an employee
• 360 feedback addresses skills such as listening, planning, and goal-setting
• A 360 evaluation can identify and measure areas such as customer service, teamwork, training needs, work environment and leadership effectiveness. The feedback can then be used to create development plans to increase capabilities and performance.

Is this something that could be an issue at your place? Inspire Success is all about implementing practical solutions that help create high performing workplaces which are customer focussed and free of conflict - no matter what size your business is. Contact Rae Phillips at Inspire Success for further information raephillips@inspire-success.com

Rewarding and recognising your staff can be as simple as a pat on the back to a more structured salary review process. What is important is that your employees feel valued and know they are recognised for the contribution they make to your business.  While it is true that people often do not move jobs for money alone, the remuneration on offer can play a significant role, both in attracting a candidate to join your firm, or leading a current employee to “look around”. Here we look at the salary review process.....

Why do a salary review
You can keep your salary review and performance review separate but it does make sense to bring the two together and allows you to reward your high performing staff. If you are managing both processes it is best practice for the salary review to happen immediately after the performance appraisals. For those who manage these processes they believe that being paid appropriately is a form of recognition and sends a message to staff regarding how much they are valued. Whilst money is by no means the sole motivating factor at work, if you underpay, it is a definite de-motivator, and in this employment market this is likely to lead to staff moving to firms who will pay them the recognition they feel they deserve.

In general, salary reviews are about two things:

1. How the employee performs their job.
2. Where that employee fits relative to the external job market.

Getting the right information for your salary review
It’s important when managing a salary review to look at what the market is paying. You can get information from contacts in your network, from industry information gained through salary surveys from various organisations and from Human Resource and recruitment professionals. Finding out what it would cost to replace an employee in the current market is revealing and valuable information.

Salary reviews are an important process and require care and preparation in order to meet your employees’ expectations and ensure that the review is a valuable process. It is also important that full explanations are offered as to the reasons and criteria behind why salaries are reviewed. Not everyone may receive a salary increase or at least an increase at the level they were expecting, so it is important that their expectations are managed correctly by fully justifying and preparing prior to undertaking the review. Likewise, you may be in a position to offer someone a pay increase at a higher level than they were expecting. Here, it is important that you fully utilise this situation by praising and congratulating on excellent performance or contribution.
Although companies have different approaches to reviewing and remunerating employees, simple considerations can help you make the process become more effective:

Tips for your salary review process

• Have a good understanding of the objectives of your performance and salary review processes prior to beginning e.g. to align your business and employee goals, to recognise and reward well performing employees etc
• The process should be carefully planned and documented from beginning to end
• Ensure all your Managers are trained in the process being used and understand how the review should be conducted. Have template documents that are used so that employees are all treated in the same way and so fairly
• Ensure feedback and decisions are objective and based on your benchmarking criteria and that they are clear and easily understood by your Managers and employees
• Make sure your rating system is fair and easy for employees to understand. Have each rating translate into what the raise in salary will be (if performance unsatisfactory then there would not be a raise)
• Ensure pay is reviewed in line with the Modern Award rates of pay

Is this something that could be an issue at your place? Inspire Success is all about implementing practical solutions that help create high performing workplaces which are customer focussed and free of conflict - no matter what size your business is. Contact Rae Phillips at Inspire Success for further information raephillips@inspire-success.com

In recent newsletters we have discussed the importance of finding and employing the right employees, their induction and their probationary period. Hiring employees is just a start to creating a strong work force. Next, you have to keep them. High employee turnover costs you in time and productivity. Here we discuss ways to reward and retain those employees, the importance of showing employees why they should stay working for you and also how it can improve your reputation with future employees. Salary increases and bonuses are ways to reward and retain employees but in this article we will focus on non monetary ways for retaining that key talent in your business......

Why put so much effort into keeping them?

Retaining employees is a good measure of how healthy your business is. If you are losing key employees chances are that other employees are looking also.

There are a lot of benefits to retaining your employees and these include:-

• Cost savings – the cost of staff turnover is very expensive as well as time consuming
• Improved productivity – continued work efficiency and customer service. It also ensures a reliable knowledge base about your business processes, policies and procedures
• Positive staff morale
• Happy clients – clients have continued relationship with same staff members
• Allows employees to build on their knowledge base and make career development
• Positive culture for your business which is good for current employees and new recruits

Ways to reward and retain employees
It is important for your business to keep your employees motivated and engaged and in return retain them. As the saying goes; “A happy worker is a productive worker”.

Salary is not the only way to motivate staff. There are a number of non monetary ways to  help your staff feel important and rewarded and keep them motivated and happy. These include:-

• Incentivise your employees – there are low and no-cost incentives you can use to make your staff feel valued e.g. an afternoon off, cinema tickets, breakfast morning etc
• Meet your employees regularly to talk about their work, what motivates them, their professional development and discussing the long term vision for them with your business
• Good quality supervision of employees – supervisors have an important role in the retention of employees. Its very important the supervisor does not make the employee feel undervalued. Examples of good supervision include providing feedback about performance, having regular meetings and being clear about work expectations.
• Allow employees to offer ideas, have open communication and give feedback – let employees feel comfortable doing this and encourage their involvement
• Having a fair and equitable company – treating employees equally is very important in retaining them
• Giving employees the opportunities to learn and grow in their knowledge, skills and career -   coaching employees by Managers, attending seminars, training, conferences etc
• Promoting from within whenever possible, having clear paths of advancement for employees

To retain staff you must make them feel rewarded, recognised and appreciated. It is good to be creative in (non monetary) ways of keeping employees happy and choose whatever works best for your business, even the simple act of saying “thank you” can go a long way…….

Is this something that could be an issue at your place? Inspire Success is all about implementing practical solutions that help create high performing workplaces which are customer focussed and free of conflict - no matter what size your business is. Contact Rae Phillips at Inspire Success for further information raephillips@inspire-success.com

It seems that absenteeism is causing a lot of stress for many of us – not only because employees who are consistently absent or late to work cause headaches, but they also impact on our bottom line!

Here are our top 5 tips for reducing absenteeism at your place:

1. Set standards of attendance
Start right at the start –your induction and your leave policy should outline what you expect if they are going to be late or are not able to get to work. For example employees should;

• tell their manager they will be absent;
• phone their manager within a certain time-frame to advise why they are unable to make it to work, the nature of their illness and when they expect to return;
• know that they will be contacted if you haven’t heard from them about why they are absent; and
• provide certain evidence that they are unfit for work i.e. a medical certificate or statutory declaration, in a certain way and within a certain time-frame.
  

2. Keep an eye on why people are absent
Collect information on patterns of absence, regardless of how many employees you have. Only with these statistics are you going to know if you have an issue in your workplace. Keeping an eye on these trends can assist you to:

• identify if you have a problem with absence at your workplace;
• determine what type of absence usually occurs in your workplace i.e. is it mainly Monday morning ’sickies’ or cases of longer-term sickness?; and
• highlight patterns in absence levels. For example, are absence levels higher in one particular team or at a specific time of year?

3. Conduct return to work interviews
For longer term absences, a return to work interview allows you to determine whether the employee is able to return to their duties and if modifications to their duties are required. It also assists you to determine if there is enough reason for disciplinary action. The focus on their absence gives notice to the employee that it hasn’t been noticed. Of course this will depend on the employee’s absence record, and any patterns.

4. Promote opportunities for flexible work
We know it is a legislated requirement, but why not be a trail blazer and help employees achieve a balance between their work, family and lifestyle commitments? There are lots of statistics that show that work-life balance reduces absenteeism. Just looking at your workplace and the roles differently might unearth a few opportunities to work flexibly that you didn’t know existed.

5. Make the job as good as it can be
Research suggests our people spend only 20%, or one day each week, doing tasks for which they have a genuine aptitude. Of course they are busy all the time. You can add real value and unearth strategies to engage and fulfil your staff by identifying roadblocks and helping remove them. In your informal discussions ask, "How can I help make your job more fulfilling, engaging and productive?"

These conversations with your people have economic benefits. All investments yield a return. How can you get your staff to work?

You need proof you did it!

With the introduction of the Fair Work Act 2009, from 1 January 2010 it became mandatory for an employer to provide an employee with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement. The statement needs to be provided to the employee before employment or as soon as practicable after commencement of employment. Provision of the Fair Work Information Statement is one the 10 National Employment Standards (NES), which are outlined in the Fair Work Information Statement. Additional information in this document includes modern awards, agreement making, individual flexibility arrangements, freedom of association and workplace rights, termination of employment, right of entry, and the Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Australia.

In recent audits conducted by the Fair Work Ombudsman, businesses have been asked to provide proof that an employee has received a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement from their employer. Additionally, as provision of the Fair Work Information Statement is one of the NES, employees are able to make a claim against their employer for a breach of the NES if they have not received the Fair Work Information Statement.

Keep this in mind when you are inducting your new employees. It may also be worthwhile reviewing your standard induction processes to ensure you have a system in place to record the provision of the Fair Work Information Statement to your employees when they join your business. Here is an induction checklist we prepared earlier!

Contact Inspire Success on 1300 620 100 or terri@inspire-success.com if you would like to discuss how this affects your business.

Did you know that the first 4 weeks of employment are when our new starters are deciding whether they are staying or not? This is the time to make sure we set them up for success and make the most of the money we have already spent on recruitment.

If you include at least these 3 steps to your induction, we believe you are on your way to building a positive employment relationship with your new starter and will have a much better level of engagement (read higher productivity, less conflict, less complaints, easier work for you!):

1. Deliver on what you promised
2. Set the standards up front
3. Follow up at regular intervals

Setting employees up for success in a new role requires planning and action. There are times that things won’t go according to the plan, but the system should be flexible enough to allow for this, and help it get back on track.

1. Deliver on what you promised.
Your recruitment systems should help here – what did you agree to in the interview? The letter of offer needs to be clear on what the job role is, what the pay is, when they start and how it will be reviewed.
Try to have this set up before the new starter arrives – it shows organisation in the business if their tools and workspace are ready, there is a name-badge and PPE, a handbook ready and an email address all sorted.
If you can, send the letter of engagement, personal details form, super and tax forms out in advance (we call this the starter pack). If this is completed at home and sent back in, you can set them up in payroll in advance and ensure there are no issues in getting that first pay. And if you pay monthly and they just miss the pay run – show them some flexibility by organising an end of month manual pay so they don’t have to wait 6 weeks!
TOP TIP: Have a checklist that you use to prepare for new starters, but that doubles as their checklist during Induction.

2. Set the standards up front.
You should have a standard checklist that is used by you or your key personnel so that you know every new employee gets exactly the same information. This checklist should include information on the company history and your service expectations, the focus of the division or department (this helps them understand how their position fits into the big picture) and very specific details like hours of work, where to park, uniforms, safety, timesheets, calling in sick etc.
Make certain that the checklist has a link to the position description so that the key personnel can work through the PD, letting the new starter know exactly what is expected of them and how their performance will be evaluated. Maintaining high standards during the Onboarding period will ensure that they continue.
By involving team members in establishing high standards of performance, you will build their pride and self-confidence. It has been shown time and again that setting high standards at the start improves staff retention and customer feedback.
TOP TIP: Your position description should be general enough that the employees understand the scope of their work, but specific enough that you can explain the standards (quality, quantity and time) you expect.

3. Follow up at regular intervals.
Specify on your checklist that there will be a weekly catch up, with a 6 weekly performance review mid probation. These catch ups should be casual, but structured, using the checklists as a guide.
Ask lots of questions, go over the information they have learned, ‘test’ that they have understood it and check to see where there are still gaps. During this time you should be listening for underlying problems with what the employees expected and what they are experiencing.
The 6 weekly probation review is a formal opportunity to provide feedback on their take-up of the new role, where they are going well and where there are performance issues. Document this discussion using a review form that you can go back to if necessary.
TOP TIP: These follow ups will work best if they are two way discussions. Ask the employee how things are going, listen to their response and then give your feedback. Resist the urge to jump in first.

They are able to attract the best people, retain them and keep them engaged in their business for improved performance.

Organisations that can rally their people together can achieve rewards way above the competition!

Whether you are a business owner, CEO, Managing Director or the People Specialist, you are in the position to make a difference in these challenging economic times.

A thriving, recession proof company values their employees. Other companies will follow the traditional approach of laying off staff.

Some very talented people will be let go by your competitors and there is no better time to add their skills and experience to your team. They may bring some much needed, fresh thinking and ideas to your business.

At the same time, your current staff morale will remain high, as they won't feel threatened by impending layoffs. Leave those concerns to your competitors!

Think about how you make a positive customer experience. Front line employees in customer service, delivery, purchasing, operations, and sales often have powerful money saving ideas at their fingertips.

Now is the time to do something differently.

Why not be the one leading the pack out of this challenging economic time?