How often do you do monitoring and give feedback?
Putting aside how saavy your methodology of training and watching your staff is, many companies simply don’t do it hardly at all. To have good workers, you need to constantly be molding them. If they are resistant to being “worked on,” maybe they are not a good fit for your company.
A samurai sword is not something that an amateur craftsman just throws in the fire and pounds haphazardly on. It is something that is worked on with intricate attention to detail and care by a very highly experienced and skilled master. And if the samurai is not pleased with your workmanship, I think they cut your head off which raises the average level of performance of the sword makers who are still alive.
Putting samurai jokes aside, step one in having a good work force is to monitor them regularly as a matter of course. Knowing what to look for and what to monitor is another question though. You really need to make a very long list of categorized points to work on. It might not be possible to work on all of those points all at once, but the awareness of the complexity of a seemingly simple job is critical for success!
The next thing that matters is who you pick to do your monitoring. You as the manager need to understand who is to be monitored and how. But, you need someone else to do the actual monitoring and then compare notes with you. If you pick someone careless, or someone who rubs people the wrong way, then you will be out of business soon. Learn to pick the right folks for the right job. They should be pleasant and have a passion for details!
Rewards should be given for top-notch workers, or even mediocre workers who improved a lot. If you are keeping a detailed score card for each member of your team, it will be easy to track improvement and reward it. Everyone likes to feel they matter, and rewards are a way to do it. You could have employee of the month, mention them on the company newsletter, or throw a small party in their honor. In my opinion, mixing it up is a good way, otherwise the rewards get boring. Creating an atmosphere of fun is important not only for the one being rewarded, but for the other ones who will have to wait until next month to get their just desserts!
(1) To have good workers, you need to constantly be molding them. Do you give regular feedback?
(2) Rewards should be given for top-notch workers, or even mediocre workers who improved a lot
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