An ideal team is one that works efficiently, productively and accurately the first time around. They’re experts as what they do, and they’re collaborative. They remain on the cutting-edge of the industry. Most importantly, they hold themselves and each other accountable to top-tier performance.
As leader of your company, it’s up to you to foster this workplace culture of accountability and high-performance levels. Here’s how to nurture that energy at your company.
Set Clear Expectations
Make sure your expectations are crystal clear to your technicians. Set target milestones for your team. Establish hard deadlines with consequences if they are not met. Follow through on what you promise to your team. Document new processes, and make sure they’re easy to reference for your team.
The more detailed and documented your expectations are, the more clear-cut it will be for your team whether or not they’ve met expectations, exceeded them, or just missed the mark.
Create Probationary Periods
It’s standard practice for companies to establish 90-day probationary periods for new employees. These probationary periods often act as a zero-tolerance policy to ensure the new employee is able to meet the standards of the company.
In our Q&A with Jason Haskin, the service manager at Boothe’s Heating, Air Conditioning, and Plumbing, he mentioned using a 90-day probationary period to hold his team accountable to completing our online vocational training programs. They are required to complete, at minimum, one training module per week. If they fall behind, it’s grounds for termination.
Haskin uses the 90-day probationary period to hold his team accountable and set clear expectations for how his team should be performing.
Incentivize Results
It’s important to not only penalize underperformance, but to also reward those who go above and beyond. If not, your company culture will turn into one of negativity and a paralyzing fear of making mistakes.
You could do a number of things to incentivize your team, including:
- Bonuses when the team exceeds revenue goals
- Recognition programs that allow technicians to publicly praise each other
- Company-wide events when the team overcomes particularly difficult projects
If you incorporate incentives into your accountability structure, it allows both you and your employees to reap the benefits when your company is succeeding.
Check in With Your Team
Accountability programs can’t begin and end with establishing new processes. It’s important to regularly check in with your employees to establish a consistent opportunity for providing feedback and review progress. During these check in meetings, you could use the time to:
- Review what they’re doing well
- Discuss what they need to work on
- Share business goals
- Set goals specific to that employee that align with business goals
- Set a date for the next check in meeting to ensure goals were met
Including goal setting as a part of these check in meetings will make sure you and your employees are on the same page in regard to their expectations. Setting a date for the next check in also gives both you and your employee a due date of sorts for their goals. Your employee will feel the heat of that deadline and push to finish those goals if there’s a follow up.
Establish an Open-Door Policy
Great leaders invite feedback just as much—if not more—than they deliver it. Developing a feedback cycle of sorts with your employees encourages honesty and accountability that extends far beyond your check in meetings. An open-door policy establishes a trusting relationship between you and your employees, that holds your team accountable not only to their job, but to a boss they can rely on and that respects them.
Inviting your employees to come right to you with issues, questions, and concerns will nurture an accountability culture that’s healthy and empowering.
Interested in using NexTech’s online technical training as a tool for holding your team accountable? Contact us to learn more!
