In many of today’s workplaces, employee performance follows the Pareto Principle: 80 percent of employees fizzle, 20 percent sizzle.

The 80 percent who fizzle are are weak and uninterested performers who do just enough to not get fired. The 20 percent who sizzle are passionate and engaged performers, committed to making a difference.

How can an organization be successful if only a small percentage of its people are actively driving service responses and results? The better question is: Why does this happen?

The 20 percenters are people who are well matched to their jobs. They are intellectually connected (they have the right talents and skills) and are emotionally connected (work activates their passions and interests).

Intellectual and emotional connection: This combination creates a high-performing employee. It empowers an employee to be confident, committed, and engaged and to think and act like an owner. Attracting, hiring, and keeping great-fit employees is critical for business owners.

Making the connection

Intellectual connection is essential. To be productive, an employee must have the skills, core talents, and thinking required to do the job well. This encourages confidence, competence, and commitment. People who work in jobs that do not match their talents and skills feel incapable and then fizzle out.

Emotional connection is an even more important component of employee fit and performance. Employee behavior is similar to customer behavior in this area. Research presented in the book Human Sigma by Dr. John Fleming and Jim Asplund shows that a dissatisfied customer and a satisfied customer buy nearly the same volume.

However, a loyal customer buys signficantly more than a merely satisfied customer. The difference between the satisfied and loyal customers is that the loyal customer is emotionally connected to the brand, product, or organization. This emotional connection makes all the difference.

The same principle follows with employees. Satisfied and unhappy employees (80 percent) perform at nearly the same level: average. Loyal employees (20 percent) perform at significantly higher levels. The reason is the emotional connection they feel with their jobs and managers. Employees who work in jobs that activate their passions, values, and interests become emotionally connected to their work and to their performance.

Igniting performance

It is the job of the owner and managers to ignite employee performance. You do this by cultivating the intellectual and emotional connections – that is the formula for customer and employee loyalty.

So, let’s see it in practice. Here are several employee performance or attitude problems that you can address by reconnecting the employee intellectually and emotionally. Review your employees and determine who is an eighty percenter. Then create a plan for moving that person to 20 percenter performance.

Performance problems – set 1:

• Employees constantly threaten to quit, and criticize or blame others.

• Employees can’t meet basic job requirements and continually miss deadlines.

• Employees do as little as possible and show no real effort.

• Employees need significantly more praise, affirmation, and attention.

• Employees need constant instruction, guidance, and hand-holding.

If you see these symptoms in your workplace, it could be because your people do not feel capable or confident in their work. Help them reconnect intellectually by assessing their talents and realigning them to jobs that provide a better fit.

Use a talent assessment (there are many online) to identify natural strengths and abilities. Employees whose talents are more social fit well in roles that put them in front of people (sales, service) and not in a cubicle. Those who are more analytical are more comfortable with details and procedures (accounting, engineering).

People who like to be in charge are more effective in leadership and solo-performance roles. Those who have strong supportive talents are more effective in management, team, and collaborative roles. Knowing your people’s talents is the first step in matching the person to the job. Fit is critical in activating that intellectual connection.

Performance problems – set 2:

• Employees show little or no passion in their work, workplace, or team.

• Employees are constantly unhappy, critical, or negative.

• Employees show little or no enthusiasm; they are visibly bored.

• Employees seem detached and disconnected; they do only the minimum and need constant supervision.

If you see these symptoms in your workplace, your employees are not finding a emotional connection to their work. Reconnect them emotionally by customizing their jobs around their talents, values, and interests, and in things that are meaningful to the business.

For example, a customer service employee who also loves to write may feel more emotionally connected if allowed to work on the company newsletter or write marketing materials. A sales employee who is also great at organizing may feel more emotionally connected if able to plan a company open house or customer demonstration.

A workplace of sizzlers has employees who are connected intellectually and emotionally to their work. They become maximum performers because they feel capable, confident, and passionate about what they do. Focus on these two components to revive any employee to passionate-performance status. Your results depend on it.