Workplaces thrive when employees have high morale and great leaders inspire their sales staff to challenge themselves to do better through effective sales performance management. A Gallup study recently boiled down the characteristics of strong employers that increase engagement and ensure solid levels of productivity even during economic downturns. The authors of the post, which was published in Harvard Business Review, researched 32 large corporations who had a combined payroll of 600,000. A survey of the overall global workforce indicated disengaged workers were double the number of engaged employees, according to Gallup’s study. However, staff at the companies studied in the Harvard Business Review article had much higher levels of engagement with engaged workers outnumbering disengaged ones by a ratio of 9:1. Before moving on to accomplishing the company’s goals, companies are encouraged to make sure their workers have an adequate foundation for engagement that sets them up for success. The Gallup researchers said the workplaces with an engaged workforce were more likely to meet basic engagement requirements that encourage employees to perform optimally. This includes having employees aware of employer expectations and equipping staff with the necessary tools to do their jobs. How companies approach improving morale Leadership within a company also makes a difference in sales performance management. Employers should provide support for their managers and teams in order to encourage them to solve their own problems and make sure they are capable in doing their job. Great employers understand the value of recognition in boosting morale and engaging workers with incentives. The authors said companies should use recognition as a “powerful incentive currency” in their performance management. One company that actively monitors employee engagement is Virgin Media, which focuses on investing resources on improving engagement among its workforce, according to Workplace Savings and Benefits. Businesses may utilize incentive compensation management to track employee performance and reward them with the attention they need to improve. Employers could use recognition as a way to shape staff performance and propel them into new heights of performance. “We make sure engagement is a combined measure and it’s not just satisfaction (whether people are satisfied with their jobs) – it’s about five different measures,” said Virgin Media employee insight and engagement manager Emily Scammell, according to Workplace Savings and Benefits. “It’s about using that combined measure to see whether our people are truly engaged in our success and want to give that discretionary effort to contribute to our growth.”
