I have found that an effective way to gauge performance is to allow staff to reverse rolls, and for a shift I become the staff member. Allowing them to display all that they have taken in and the quality of what they can deliver through their prospective. We are only as strong as the teams we build, and this allows me to see additional strengths and weaknesses through close observation. It also builds character, by allowing them to see I willingness to grow with the team, and not stand over them. Without the team there would be no leader.

In training I find that competition with incentivized rewards helps a lot. It’s a job we all know that. They don’t have a choice but to learn and absorb the material. Competition not only builds the spirit of the team, it helps the employees retain the information from the training regardless of the subject.

Personally I recommend implementing all 3 in the form of post training live observations with metrics tracked and quality measured. Additionally you may have a question post completion of the task adding a level of employee feedback. From here we can repeat this process with known factors; such as tenured employees with good track records of efficiency. Compare observations and metrics and analyze how to optimize operations.

Invite known respected managers from the same discipline to come incognito and give a fair assessment. Evaluate their assessment and teach to your standard.

One thing I find that is helpful is utilizing mystery shops to ensure steps of service are being hit in a timely manner. Once the steps and timeframes are used constantly then they will become routine.