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During an employee's normal working period, the company must conduct relevant assessments of their actual work status and outcomes to determine performance pay and promotions. Employee assessment is basically divided into two levels: one is behavioral attitude, and the other is work quality and results themselves. Here, we focus on analyzing the assessment issues at the work level.
In traditional assessment methods, from the moment an employee joins, task volumes are assigned and assessment targets are set, especially in sales roles. Then, based on the employee's actual completion, corresponding assessment bonuses are calculated. Objectively speaking, if the employee has a high completion rate and good performance results, their personal salary income will rise accordingly, and their work enthusiasm can be sustained, forming a positive cycle. Conversely, if the quality of work completion is poor, income will naturally be low, and low income will keep employees in a depressed and negative state, with even less confidence and passion to face subsequent work.
Bosses naturally hope employees enter a positive cycle, but in actual work, most employees often fall into the vortex of a negative cycle: low income, no enthusiasm for work, and just muddling through. Why is this? Often, the problem lies in the design of the assessment method.
Many trading companies' assessment methods are led by the boss, naturally based on the boss's ideology and will. In the boss's view, setting a work result standard for employees, as long as they meet it, they get the corresponding salary; if they exceed it, they get even higher pay. Bosses assume that employees, upon receiving high income, will definitely find ways to complete tasks. Furthermore, they set up a few high-income employee models to further stimulate all employees! In contrast, employees see work results as outcome assessment, which requires a large accumulation process beforehand; only with process can there be results. These processes include confidence in work, familiarity with work, and learning and application of relevant skills. However, if these are not considered and results are demanded directly, it easily dampens employee enthusiasm. Assessment mechanisms, like other management mechanisms, should integrate the wishes and actual conditions of both bosses and employees. Some things cannot be one-size-fits-all or achieved in one step; they need to be advanced gradually. After all, employees are not machines; they need guidance, cultivation, and training.
Simply put, we can consider setting an assessment sequence, adopting different assessment focuses at different stages of an employee's tenure. The structure is as follows:
Stage One: Assess Employees' Mastery of Professional Skills After new employees join, there must be a learning process, whether it's establishing a centralized training mechanism for new employees or simply having senior employees mentor them. It's important to emphasize that we cannot assume new employees' professional skills are already in place and they can start working immediately upon joining. At least, each company's operational and management characteristics need to be relearned. Therefore, bosses must establish the concept that after new employees join, their initial task is to learn, familiarize themselves with the situation, and master relevant professional skills, without expecting performance results during the learning phase. This learning period can be one month (at least) or three months. During this time, new employees are not responsible for performance results, and any work they handle is for practice and familiarization.
Since the task assigned to employees is learning, the assessment should also focus on learning, such as the learning and practical application of professional skills, which can be assessed through written tests, practical drills, etc. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure employees are familiar with the relevant situation and have mastered the corresponding professional skills. From a sequencing design perspective, new employees should first master professional skills, which is a prerequisite for later performance output.
Stage Two: Assess Employees' Standardized Execution Ability Strictly speaking, every task in work should have a standard process. For example, how to make phone calls to customers, how to establish customer files, how to arrange terminal shelf displays, what are the preparatory tasks for promotional activities, etc. If there are no clear standards, employees will understand and execute according to their own intentions, i.e., using their own standards, which inevitably causes chaos and inefficiency, and brings a lot of internal friction. Therefore, the company must establish standard processes, and unified ones at that.
After establishing standard processes, the next step is to guide employees to execute work according to these established standards. In fact, doing these execution tasks well is also doing the process work that leads to results. Whether employees follow the company's established standard processes in actual work can be called the assessment focus of the second stage. In this stage, the assessment focuses on standardized execution ability (process), with a small proportion of results assessment, or even no consideration of results. The assessment period can be controlled at [missing number] months, mainly considering that it takes time for employees to receive standards and form execution habits.
In fact, as long as the standards set by the company are reasonable and employees can do the process well according to the standards, how bad can the results be?
Stage Three: Assess Employees' Work Results Under the premise that employees can execute work according to the company's established standard processes, then assess their actual output results. This assessment point is much simpler: performance, payment collection, completion rate, etc.
In fact, ultimately, it all comes back to the employee's actual work results. The assessments in the first two stages may seem like extra detours, but they are normal and reasonable necessary processes. If employees have not mastered relevant professional skills, are not fully familiar with the situation, and have not formed standardized execution actions, how can they possibly produce good performance from the start? Of course, to consolidate employees' work habits, even in the results-based assessment stage, a certain proportion of standardized execution action assessment should still be added, and the assessment of engineering cannot be relaxed.
Stage Four: Assess Employee Innovation Under the premise that employees can meet established standards, we also need to find ways to tap into their potential.
At this stage, innovation assessment can be introduced. Employees who, based on their established work, have research and innovation results in various aspects of company operations, and produce value in work efficiency, cost control, customer stability, standardized management, etc., should also have corresponding reward measures. That is, first meet standards, then innovate. Of course, this assessment is independent and not included in regular process and results assessments. No innovation action means no deduction; achieving it brings rewards. After all, innovation should occur in a relaxed environment and under employees' voluntary initiative. At the same time, this innovation assessment can be combined with employee promotion; those who actively invest in work and continuously improve themselves can take on more important positions.
In summary, don't assess employees with a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, fully consider that employees must go through a familiarization and learning process after joining, and a process of cultivating standardized execution actions. On top of that, tap into employees' potential, drive them to innovate actively, and improve themselves.
After all, in the early days of employment, because employees are unfamiliar with the situation, have not yet mastered professional skills, have not established standardized execution actions, and have not done the relevant process work in advance, it is unlikely they can effectively complete work. Poor results and pitiful assessment bonuses can also put employees under great pressure, causing them to lose confidence and start doubting whether they are suitable for this position and this company, thereby increasing the likelihood of resignation. Or under pressure, employees may take shortcuts, such as overdrawing resources or muddling through, to cope with the current results assessment. Is this really the assessment result the boss wants?
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