You’ve done everything right. Processes and procedures are clearly documented. Checklists, work instructions, and cheat sheets are easily accessible for anyone who needs them. You’ve trained people on these procedures, demonstrated them in action, and asked if people have any questions. As far as you can tell, everyone should know how to do things correctly, and know how to easily double check anything they aren’t sure of.
So why aren’t people actually following these procedures consistently?
There are a few possibilities.
You asked people if they understood what needed to be done, and they said yes, but did you actually verify this? Did you assess their knowledge? Did you assess their ability to put that knowledge to practical use? People can be reluctant to say that they don’t understand something. They may even think they understand, and don’t realize they are making mistakes.
You told them WHAT to do. Did you tell them WHY? If someone doesn’t understand the purpose behind a procedure, and if it doesn’t matter to them, they are far less likely to put effort into doing it correctly.
If your “why” is because then the business makes money, that may not be enough to motivate your employees. Unless you have some kind of a profit-sharing setup, many employees are going to figure that as long as the business is solvent, a little more or less revenue doesn’t affect them. You can always point out that they only have a job as long as the business is doing well, but do you really want employees whose motivation is simply not to lose their job?
This is where workplace culture and fostering a sense of thriving and engagement in your employees becomes important. Find out what is important to your employees and connect their job duties to those priorities. Talk to them about your hopes about dreams for your business and find out about their hopes and dreams. Where is the common ground? How can engaging more fully in the day-to-day operations of their jobs support not just the business, but your employees’ goals for themselves?
I’d love to hear about your engagement successes and failures. What worked well, what didn’t, and most importantly, why?