It’s the RESULTS that matter!

Recently our team visited the Office Experience where the world of the TV Show, The Office comes to life.

Behold: the desk of Phyllis Lapin-Vance!

Phyllis is a sales representative at Dunder Mifflin, Scranton but judging by what is happening on her office computer, Phyllis is not making many sales.

Phyllis is the quiet-but-friendly type who would rather engage in “girl talk and gossip” than be selling.

How do you deal with people like Phyllis that are really not pulling their weight?

Here is the biggest tip that I have learned over the 20+ years that I have been managing various folks:

Create a Results Only Work Environment (R.O.W.E.) with clear metrics to measure each team member’s performance.

Sounds simple right?

Not really.

In 2007, me and another member of our management team spent 7 months or so working ON the business instead of IN the business (nod to Michael Gerber of E-Myth fame).

During those months we looked at each job within Printable Promotions.

For each job, we looked at historical data (e.g., # of orders processed, sales made, conversion rates, orders invoiced, average # of invoice past due dates etc.)

Then, armed with this data we met with each team member to review our findings; the metrics for their specific job.

We wanted to focus on results instead of activities so we asked each employee to come up with measurable goals for their roles.

For example, for our accounting clerk, rather than “I will follow up on all past due receivables” (activity) the goal became “I will collect 85% of our receivables within 60 days” (results).

Each quarter, employees rate themselves on how they did against the results they were looking to achieve. They even share those results with the whole company at our monthly co. meetings.

And, for the cherry on top….they are comp-ed based on how well they do against the goals that THEY set for themselves!

By having a Quarterly Success Plan (QSP) program in place for each employee, everyone’s efforts are focused on results, not activities.

Now, no one cares if a co-worker is goofing off on Facebook, shopping online or even playing Solitaire on their computer, like Phyllis!