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Does Your Business Performance Need Some Fine-Tuning?

Adam Groff

October 29, 2015

If your sales numbers are low or your small business is missing the mark in terms of productivity, then it might be time to fine-tune your staff.

Whether your small business has a dozen employees or just a couple, making sure your staff performs to the best of their abilities is a top priority.

Here are just a few ways you can keep your small business and its employees on track:

Be Honest, Not Critical

Small businesses are usually tight-knit, so you should feel free to talk to your employees openly and honestly. If your staff is falling short in terms of sales, productivity, or customer satisfaction, simply let them know.

You can either have an employee meeting to discuss your concerns or, if it's an individual who is missing the mark, you can pull that employee aside and have a talk.

Honesty goes a long way and can help open your staff's eyes.

With that said, you should never be critical when discussing the effectiveness of your staff.

You should come to the table with a solution for each issue and you should also ask your employees how they think your small business as a whole can improve.

Make Training an Ongoing Process

There's always something new to learn in the business world, which is why training initiatives should be ongoing.

The article "Teaching, Learning and Skill Development: Impact on Business Performance" mentions the importance of using innovative training methods to create a skilled staff.

Whether you use innovative, cutting-edge training techniques or not; training on a regular basis, will make a huge difference in the performance of your employees.

You can introduce new training techniques on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis - doing so will help your staff continuously improve.

Put Goals Front and Center

If you truly want to improve your small business' performance, then you need to put goals front and center for all to see.

Think about it this way: how are your employees supposed to meet your expectations if they don't know what your business is trying achieve?

By letting your staff know exactly what you're aiming for in terms of success, everyone will be on the same page and can thus work towards the same goals. So, don't be afraid to share your goals on a regular basis.

With that said, don't throw too many goals at your staff all at once.

Setting and accomplishing one goal at a time will help boost performance as opposed to overwhelming your staff.

Show Your Appreciation

Showing your staff a little appreciation goes a long way, especially if you're trying to increase performance and productivity. Simply saying "nice job" and "keep up the good work" will keep your employees' spirits up and make them passionate about their work.

Likewise, you can also offer your employees incentives for performing well.

Whether it's an employee cookout or a raise, incentives are a great way to show your employees how much you appreciate their hard work.

When you're ready to boost performance at your small business, consider some of the techniques mentioned above.

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