On the Floor, On the Fly Management By Kevin Vinicombe

Over the past several months I’ve been reading a lot articles about various Employee Management and Review processes.  It’s quite common during this time of year because everyone is thinking of how to review their employees performance for the previous year and, if appropriate, how to reward them.  Over the past 30+ years I’ve worked for all types of Company’s, Large and Small, Public and Private, Product and Service based so I’ve been involved with various types of reviews.  Which type of review you use depends on a lot of variables including how large the staff is and your industry.  At our Company we’ve tried the written review process, noting strengths and areas for improvement, grading systems etc. but I think for a small company this is overkill and “worn out”.  

I know the importance of documenting positive and negative behavior of an employee, and we have a separate system for that, but a few years ago we changed how we review job performance.  I like to call it “On the Floor, On the Fly” management.  For the most part it’s exactly as it sounds – reviewing your staff each and everyday as you or your manager(s) interact with them.  Don’t worry about doing this in an open environment, if you handle it properly everyone will benefit.  At the end of each week our staff knows exactly where they stand concerning area’s that they should focus on to improve, as well as their successes.  99% of the time everything that we talk to them about evolves around customer satisfaction.  The greatest strength of this system is its timely; no one tells us “I wish you would have told me sooner”.  Your customers deserve the best service possible and for that to happen your staff deserves the most constructive and timely feedback possible.  To accomplish this I suggest trying “On the Floor, On the Fly” reviews, once you start not only will your staff benefit but more importantly your customers will.

Kevin Vinicombe has over 30 years of management experience, first in Manufacturing and then assisting Georgianne at the flower shop. He has an MBA from Rider University with a concentration in Finance.