Metal Construction News, July 2019

crew members alike love him for his temperament He cares about the business and your clients The problem is hes slow and his quality of work could use an upgrade It would be crazy to get rid of a team player like him but if youre honest with yourself his performance needs to improve Low Performer Not only is he a lousy worker but his attitude is in the gutter too You find yourself wondering why the heck did I hire this guy I like this framework a lot Its simple but thats the point Its always helped me understand who is on my team and what they need to improve All Stars are the ideal you wish you could clone so make sure they know how much you appreciate them and treat them like gold On the other end of the scale Low Performers are simply too far away from where they need to be to justify pouring your finite resources into an attempt to develop them Chalk it up to a bad hire let them go as soon as its reasonable to do so and move on The Maverick and the Loyal Worker are people you can work with Go back to the chart for a second and let it sink in What is it telling us The Maverick is lacking commitment Working on his skills would be a waste of time because at this point hes probably a more skilled worker than you are Whats missing for him is simply buy in He needs to care more about the company and his role in it The Loyal Worker is already trying his best He just needs to be skilled up He needs coaching mentorship and specific feedback on where he can improve his job site performance Skilling Up Improving the Performance of Loyal Workers Staff productivity depends to a large extent on your employees competence But what is competence Think of it as two parts you can influence 1 Knowledge I have learned how to do something 2 Ability I have practiced something and am good at it So how do you give people the knowledge and ability they need to be productive You start by giving them a tool that outlines how to do something and then provide a consistent stepby step method for practicing that skill in a way that the employee can gain experience and gather feedback on his or her performance This is called a competency model a framework for defining the tasks skills and knowledge necessary for successful performance in a specific role The purpose of the competency model is to give the Loyal Worker the straightforward concise instruction an employee needs and to empower her with a clear method of practice so she can gain feedback and further her ability along the way Whats the outcome More productive staff If you dont have one of these dont worry you can use the competency model Ive built and Ill even give you a fill in the blanks template for you to customize for own company Just go to www btacademy com resources and use MT19 as your download code With a complete competency model in hand spend an hour a day for a week with your Loyal Workers Grade their performances against the checklist and youll quickly start to see where these guys need to be coached The power in observing performance with a competency model is that you are able to give extremely specific feedback There are a couple of very obvious things your Loyal Workers are doing incorrectly that once addressed will bring their speed and quality up substantially Plus they will appreciate the time spent with them more than you can imagine Increasing Commitment Improving the Performance of Mavericks Mavericks are tricky Theyre good at what they do and unfortunately they know it They ride this talent and see it as more than compensating for their less than desirable commitment For most Mavericks the first step in increasing commitment requires you to actually have some healthy conflict You need to have a very real conversation with them Thats scary I know but necessary if you want to turn this guy or girl around There is likely something left unresolved something he or she isnt telling you Hes mad at you because his crew isnt as fast as he is and its holding him back Shes frustrated because she feels she is entitled to more compensation I dont know exactly what it is and neither do you Thats the problem Offer to buy your Maverick lunch or dinner and go somewhere nice Its important not to have this conflict conversation anywhere near work A gesture like this makes your Maverick feel valued and being away from anything business related will make him feel a lot safer and open to being totally honest with you Ask him how hes been doing Whats going well What are you struggling with Are you frustrated with anything Get him talking and then shut up and listen Once hes got it all out acknowledge his challenges and make him feel understood Now its your turn to calmly and assertively let him know he is underperforming Tell him how much potential you see in him that you want to see it fulfilled and that you want to discuss ways of problem solving whatever might get in the way For the Maverick motivation comes from knowing what is important and understanding why its important I like to assume employees want to do good work but they need to know what good work is The hard truth is that employers often dont communicate this The whole point of an employment agreement is to clearly communicate why the role is important why the employee should care about it how to do it and what needs to be done Now would be a great time for the two of you to reread his or her employment agreement so she knows in no uncertain terms what her job entails If you like most contractors dont have employment agreements for your staff Ive got your back Ill share with you a completed one as well as a fill in the blank template so you can quickly make your own Go to www btacademy com resources and use MT19 as your download code to request these documents Keep it simple guys Your Loyal Workers legitimately need skill development and as their leader thats on you Your Mavericks need some conflict resolution and a little realignment Get that competency model built review some employment agreements and go coach your team like the epic entrepreneur that you are There is still a whole lot of season yet go make the most of it Danny Kerr is the co founder and managing partner of the Breakthrough Academy BTA a company made to help entrepreneurs in the trades grow their companies profitability while taking back control of their time Breakthrough Academy currently works with over 220 business owners across the continent and was rated as Canadas 16th fastest startup by MacLeans magazine in 2018 Kerr lives in Abbotsford British Columbia with his wife and three young daughters When hes not helping prospective BTA members you can usually find Kerr exploring mountains in his Jeep At 2019 METALCON Kerr will be presenting two sessions the 3 Keys to Getting Out of the Day to Day in Your Business and Structuring Your Company for Maximum Productivity To learn more about how you can participate go to www metalcon com July 2019 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 11 www metalconstruct ionnews com