Equip part 2: A winning scorecard for job success

Do you think you are good at your job? Would your boss AND your team agree with your answer to that question?

Think back to your first week on the job. It’s safe to assume you went through new-hire training, received an employee handbook, and filled out a bunch of forms for insurance and benefits. Yet, there was probably one thing missing that you should have been given.

Don’t fret.

It’s not your fault.

Your new manager never got it either. She should have. But, her manager before her didn’t receive it either.

It’s a vicious cycle, but, there’s a path forward for both you, your team, and your direct report(s).

What’s been missing? A necessary piece of ‘soft’ equipment.

What is ‘soft’ equipment?

‘Soft’ equipment is similar to the ‘soft skills’ companies look for in employees. Soft skills include people skills and communication competence, as this correlates to a manager’s ability to communicate well, lead – as well as follow, give and receive feedback, and the list goes on…

Soft equipment is more definable and clearly measurable than its ‘soft skills’ cousin.

Remember the one thing you didn’t get during orientation and onboarding? It’s called a Winning Scorecard and it’s one of several pieces of soft equipment every individual in your organization needs. Other examples of soft equipment include an IDP, next-job training, and goal set. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

What is a Winning Scorecard?

A Winning Scorecard answers one question: Are you good at your job?

It is a clearly defined set of outcomes and results that are expected of you in the workplace. The scorecard will look different for each role and position in a company, but it is completely different than what is typically provided in an employee job description.

A job description might include required actions like, “interact with retail store customers, provide customer feedback about store products, and assist customers with payment transactions.”

What’s missing from that description? Numbers. Every scorecard in sports has numbers for a reason.

Numbers determine who wins and who loses. They help determine benchmarks, measure productivity, and set goals. A Winning Scorecard is not ‘everyone gets a trophy’ mentality because the workplace and business world doesn’t work like YMCA youth soccer. No offense YMCA youth soccer. My kids loved it. 🙂

What does a Winning Scorecard look like?

Job Title: Corporate Communications Manager

Manages a team of 10; Responsible for external and internal communication efforts

Winning Scorecard:

  • Team to publish 4 internal and 4 external articles per month
  • Increase external facing website traffic by 10% each month. Measured via Google Analytics
  • Increase reach and readership of internal communications by 5% each month. Measured via the company’s internal comms tool
  • Meet with all team members as a group each week for 60 mins to sync work and strategies
  • Meet with each team member for a 1:1 bi-monthly for 30 mins. Document conversations, feedback, and points of growth for each team member
  • Provide Winning Scorecard to Director by the 5th of each month

Job Title: VP Human Resources

Manages a team of 200; Responsible for hiring, training, retaining talent.

Winning Scorecard:

  • Decrease employee turnover by 1% each month
  • Increase new hire longevity from 6 months to 12 months over the next 18 months
  • Lead 3 EH&S training sessions per quarter to decrease safety incidents by 5% each quarter
  • Meet with all directors and managers as a group each week for 60 mins to sync work and strategies
  • Meet with each director for a 1:1 bi-monthly for 30 mins. Document conversations, feedback, and points of growth for each director
  • Provide Winning Scorecard to SVP by the 5th of each month

Job Title: Fast Casual General Manager

Manages a team of 75; Responsible for in-store sales, hiring, training, food safety.

Winning Scorecard:

  • Increase stores sales 5% each month
  • Maintain A+ (97%+) rating of quarterly restaurant inspection score
  • Increase headcount by 20 for seasonal staffing in Q4
  • Meet with all frontline staff (both shifts) as a group each week for 20 mins to sync work and share safety and operational feedback
  • Meet with each team lead for a 1:1 bi-monthly for 30 mins. Document conversations, feedback, and points of growth for each team lead
  • Provide Winning Scorecard to Regional Director by the 5th of each month

Numbers don’t lie. Either you published the expected number of articles or you didn’t. Turnover either decreased or increased. Your store met its sales quota or was below quota.

Numbers provide clarity to you, your team, and the entire organization.

Numbers spell out organizational success in a quantifiable way; and best of all, your scorecard proves whether or not you are good at your job. No lie.

Click here for the intro the series #TEAMworks series Talk: Communication is your teams competitive advantage

Click here for part 1 of the Equip section of the #TEAMworks series: The importance of hard equipment


#TEAMworks empowers every layer of leadership within your organization. Great teams work because they communicate well, are equipped to perform at the highest level, are repeatedly acknowledged for their efforts, and unashamedly measured to achieve peak performance.

#TEAMworks | Talk, Equip, Acknowledge, Measure

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