Being driven by the performance of your teams and staff is important to managers as the success of your team and outcomes produced defines you as a leader. Whether you’re introducing a new starter to the team or managing an existing team, you need to consider the phases of performance in the Employee Lifecycle Performance Curve. This framework demonstrates the critical areas to nurture people and where additional returns can be generated by your team’s performance.

With every new hire there is a period of investment to be made by the business and yourself as a manager. This investment phase includes everything from settling them in quickly and getting them into a phase of performance. The quicker you can onboard, the sooner you can get them into a period of optimal (and profitable) performance.

Consider these four ways to get your staff performing at their peak and keep them there:

1. Ready, Set, Go

Help new starters hit the ground running and get closer to optimal performance with a well-prepared onboarding process that starts before they do. Getting an early start sets the tone with their introduction to your team. Be sure to include access to all the required training as soon as possible.  Consider a phased approach to introduce them to their role. This could include starting them on simple tasks they can master fast and gradually increase complexity over time. Be mindful that this won’t be a one size fits all approach, be prepared to be agile and move up the pace if needed.

2. Empower your staff for better employee experience

Reaching that level of profitable performance will be impacted by the level of empowerment and satisfaction that your staff experience. Create an environment where all your staff can communicate directly with you on all matters relating to their employ. Give them self-led tools to manage their own performance and development. People management tools can help your staff set and track goals, getting the team on the same page, performing effectively and with more focus and accountability.

Continuous feedback tools can provide you with a check-in of how your new hire is settling in and generally how your direct reports are feeling towards their goals and accomplishments. It can also highlight areas where they may need extra help or would benefit from extra training and development.  As a manager, having access to this feedback can assist you to support your team, with more meaningful discussion in catch ups. For your staff member, these self-led tools allow them to feel instantly more engaged and in-control of their role.

3. Manage staff disengagement, sooner

With team performance under the spotlight, as a manager you want to know when your staff are disengaged and non-productive. A people management tool can help you identify these staff, presenting an opportunity for you to take remedial action. First, you’ll want to initiate processes to help re-engage your direct reports to optimal performance. If this is unsuccessful or collaborate with HR to find alternative employment options for them.

4. Evolve their role

As a people leader, you understand for your team to be productive, all staff must be connected to both their tasks and their role within the business unit and company. Having a set description to define the tasks and requirements of their role is important. However, being able to evolve a role that develops and grows with them, keeping them engaged is far better than any static position description.

In addition, use goals to align expectations and keep the focus of your staff agile and dynamic. Focus your business unit or team activities to align with individual talents, interests, and development challenges. Keep your finger on the pulse with regular continuous feedback and use the annual role evaluation process as a chance to reset.

intelliHR provides all the Performance Management tools you need to enable you and your direct reports to have a measured and positive impact to self-manage through all phases of employment. Using intelliHR, organisations can actually accelerate time to performance, and extend profitability beyond the initial performing phase.