Understanding Behaviour in Relation to Performance Management

Improvement in job performance comes about throughRecommending the purchase of an extended
the ability of the frontline manager to coach his or herwarranty early in the sales process.o A second
employees to change the way they accomplish tasksrecommendation before the sale is secured.o Giving
related to their jobs. A critical component in aidingthe customer one or two concrete benefits of
frontline supervisors to positively change thepurchasing the extended warranty after explaining a
performance of their staff is the understanding offeature, such as "An extended warranty for this
basic behaviours that enable higher accomplishments.appliance gives peace of mind should any repairs be
The idea is that by identifying and encouragingnecessary".o Tell the customer that the price of the
average performers to adopt the same behavioursextended warranty can be added to the total cost at
exhibited by top team members, the organisation willcheckout.o Break the additional cost down into smaller
reap far-reaching benefits.increments, such as the dollar per week amount.o If
This is more than just a concept; it has been proven tothe customer exhibits resistance, increase the value
work in high-level companies around the world.proposition by mentioning an additional benefit.o Ask for
Although every employee is different and bringsagreement to purchase.
varying skills to the team, best practices can beThe result of implementing these best practices at the
broken into steps anyone can learn.company was a strong increase in the sale of
Retail Case Studyextended warranties, from 33% up to 52%.
Consider this example of how one company used topObviously this concentration on identifying the
performers' best practices to realise an increase inbehaviour in top performers and teaching it to the
sales.sales staff was quite beneficial, allowing the store to
The company sells retail appliances and electronics.go from facing closure to becoming profitable.
The greatest profits come not from the itemsIn order to use this improvement scheme in your
themselves, but as a result of selling an extendedorganisation you will first need frontline supervisors to
three- to five-year warranty to the customer alongobserve, identify, and analyse the behaviours of their
with their purchase. Their priority for the sales stafftop performers. The second step is to teach the entire
was to maximise sales of the extended warranties.team how to perform in this manner. Lastly, it is up to
The consultant the company hired spent some timethe team manager to coach their staff and manage
observing consistently high performing salesthem in a way that promotes the use of these
associates at a competitor's location. The manager atbehaviours. Feedback is an important component of
this store was interviewed, as well. After thisthis step in that it allows employees to gauge their own
observation and information gathering process, theperformance against the standard.
following behaviours were identified as being mostAny organisation can realise these benefits, not just
influential to the sale of extended warranties:oretail.