Maintaining Standards

Maintaining Standards

Standards are the rules and guidelines that govern how an organization is expected to perform. They are often considered the laws of performance. This can include standards in quality, which establishes a line between the acceptable and unacceptable levels of a product. Standards define how a service is performed, along with the elements that must be incorporated to consider a service is completed in an acceptable manner. Company standards also help to direct the decision making process, especially when a change to the process or product is required. Changes to process or products must remain within the standards outlined by the corporation.

Unfortunately, not all organizations clearly define their standards. This creates confusion and distrust. Employees will start creating their own personal standards of which may be very low or high depending on the individual. This will lead to adomosity between the organization and it’s workers. You will find that “clicks” will naturally develop, due to like minded individuals gravitating to each other, based on their interpretation of standards. Many times this will create dissent between leadership and employees.

Equally concerning is when a leader is not consistent in enforcing standards. When picking and choosing the standards you feel like enforcing. You will be viewed as disorganized, untrustworthy, uncaring and inconsistent. This makes it difficult to maintain trust and loyalty. In addition, the employees will start down a slippery slope of substandard practices. Treat all standards equally, applying the same amount of enforcement to all employees and all standards. A key takeaway is, if you do not enforce every standard, how will you identify the ones that are set too high, too low or are simply unachievable. The best way to evaluate and test a standard is to enforce it.

Leaders begin with an in-depth understanding of the standards in which the organization is expected to perform. Maintaining these standards is easy as long as the organization is already operating at or above the predetermined levels. When you're faced with bringing a department or an employee up to the level, it can be challenging.

A critical evaluation of the process and the people involved, will give you some insight to what needs to be accomplished. Look closely at your staff and decide if you have the right people. The right people first and foremost will be aligned with the company’s core values, vision and mission. This is where you will have to make a decision about the ones who are not. If you decide they are not a good fit for the organization, they must be replaced with people who are.

When you have the right people in the organization, the next task is to ensure you have them in the right positions. This is accomplished very simply, by getting to know your employees. Many times, the reason an employee fails is because they are not in the right position. They need to accent their skills, talents and personality. It is the responsibility of the leader to ensure your employees are in a position that they can excel at and operate at or above the company standards.

Now that you have the right people in the organization and the right people in the proper positions, it’s time to communicate the company’s standards clearly to the staff. This is not a time to have an overview, this is the time to be detailed and specific. When standards are communicated properly, there will be little to no ambiguity. The goal is to have everyone in the organization on the same page, operating at or above the company’s predetermined standards.

In order to maintain these standards, an employee evaluation should be performed, face to face. This will give the employee a foundation to gage exactly where they stand in accordance with the standards. The evaluation should outline the specific standards that are not being met along with a timeline of improvement. Be sure to also include the standards that are being exceeded by the employee, both are necessary in the evaluation to create a clear picture of the current situation and to open the door for coaching and additional training. By not providing an employee with a periodic evaluation, you are providing a disservice to the employee and to the organization. When standards are not being met, evaluations should be performed more frequently updating the employee and the company on the corrective process. This should continue until the situation is resolved or, if all efforts have been exhausted, termination.

A true leader will clearly communicate company standards, perform employee evaluations, coach and train to correct any shortcomings. Leaders will set predetermined time lines for improvement and identify the point where all efforts have been exhausted. When this has been accomplished the results are driven solely by the employee and the decision to terminate or continue employment will be evident.