There are many theories and ideas in management training about how to get the best out of staff members. Many practitioners boil this down to two alternatives; ‘carrot’ or ‘stick’. That is, you either offer rewards, financial or otherwise, to encourage the staff, or you threaten them with dire consequences if they fail to live up to the standards you set for them.

Here are some ideas on how to get the best out of people.

Any company serious about motivating staff will have an appraisal system in place. However, this should not be a once-a-year occurrence. Personal development reviews should be held regularly. In fact whilst the formal reviews only need take place between 2 and 4 times a year, it is hard to see how there can be too many reviews. Managers should see their staff most days, at least in passing, and should be reviewing their progress on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

Another part of the appraisal system is the setting of goals. These need to be clear and to use one of management training’s most enduring acronyms, SMART. That is, specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and timed. These should be discussed with the individual concerned and agreed.