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Why Aren’t More Companies Using Position Agreements

Oct 3, 2009 Business Management

A very important differentiation from one golf resort management company to other golf clubs, resorts, and management companies is the approach to employee accountability. Most of these companies simply give their employees a simple job description. And while a job description is better than nothing, it falls far short in detailing the specific actions and desired results the business expects the employee to comply with and achieve. A job description is not anything more than a universal “what to do” list and then it is for the employee to figure out what is the most important job function. What typically happens is that the employee defaults to only those things in the job description that the he enjoys doing most. The results and expectations aren’t clearly defined.

Question: So, what should we be doing?

Answer: Performance Management through the Three E’s

1. Expectations

Ok, so what is the difference between a position agreement and a job description? A position agreement is a written and signed statement of the expectations and outcomes the business is seeking from each employee’s performance. The Position agreement creates accountability! It contains those specific actions agreed upon in advance that the employee should perform on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis to achieve the agreed upon outcomes the business is seeking.

These expectations should be discussed as they are concurrently presented in writing for the employee to sign. For instance, it might be the number of calls one makes daily, the amount of letters or invitations sent weekly, the number of referrals asked for monthly, the completion of game plans quarterly, the financial expectations for each quarter, the plans for qualitative improvement each quarter, the good marketing plan they are following, the internet marketing book they are reading, or the creation of budgets annually.

2. Equipping

Another critically important aspect of the Position Agreement is understanding that the business MUST provide the employee with the tools, resources, training and time to carry out their agreed upon objectives. Telling an employee to go sell without providing direction as to where leads will best be generated, what the specifics of your Club or Resort offers, or a detailed script to utilize when discussing a sales opportunity with a prospect means you have skipped an important part of the process. You must ensure that your employee is indeed equipped to successfully carry out the actions specified in the Position Agreement.

3. Evaluation

But, the essence of a Position Agreement is that it creates ACCOUNTABILITY! It establishes the foundation for the performance that is expected and, written clearly with goals that are specific and measurable, provide the foundation for evaluating the performance and determining whether or not what is expected was achieved.

Position agreements create the standard when reviewing the employees job performance. How can you gauge how well an employee is doing unless you have a standard to measure them against? And is it fair to them to leave them guessing what they should be doing? They might believe that they are doing an excellent job and yet their supervisor may feel differently. With a Position Agreement you have black and white criteria and benchmarks with which to analyze your employees.

Position agreements are an invaluable tool for producing the results your business needs. Remember that you have agreed on the action steps in advance so the expectations have been set and should be clear. Properly written, they are black and white without any prejudice or opinion to muddy the water. This is especially important if the goals are not being met and will help you assess if you need to follow the five Rs and reward, retrain, reassign, or replace the employee as you now have the documentation to do what is needed.

Tags: Business Management, company management, employee management, job descriptions, job performance, management, position agreements, staff management, staff motivation