“I’m not really sure what my manager expects of me.”
“Every time my manager wants to talk to me, my heart sinks. It’s never good news.”
“I wish I knew if I’m doing okay at my job.”
“I only hear from the boss when I make a mistake.”
Managers and leaders have a tendency to focus on correcting errors, improving performance, and discouraging unproductive habits. It’s understandable; we want our teams to improve, our reports to do better, and the most obvious way to do that is to fix what’s wrong.
To build a team that really excels, though, we also have to look at what’s going right – and we have to let our team members know about it when we see it happening.
Set Expectations
Regardless of what KPI or measurement we’re looking at, the first thing that needs to happen is setting and communicating expectations to the team. It’s not fair to assess their performance if they aren’t aware of the standard they are being measured by.
Not only that, but it’s confusing, demoralizing, and anti-motivational for team members when they aren’t sure what they are supposed to be doing, or how their performance will be assessed. When asked what they want most from a manager or leader, employees overwhelmingly list “to know what they expect” as an important need.
So let your employees know what you want from them. Clearly communicate what the standard is, how their performance is being reviewed and measured, and how often. Tell them you’ll be communicating with them about their performance and finding ways to help the team improve.
Catch Them Doing It Right
Now that your employees know what they are supposed to be doing, you need to search proactively, not only for those who are falling short, but those who are meeting – and especially, those who are exceeding – those expectations. When reviewing reports, dashboards, or KPI measurements, don’t look only at the bottom end of the chart.
You probably already have an idea of who your highest and lowest performers are. You know who’s a rockstar, who’s a steady workhorse, who does the bare minimum they can skate by on, and who seems to constantly be struggling or always falling short.
As managers, we often tend to let the high performers fly solo – and leave the reliable people alone – while we focus on helping, coaching, correcting, or even disciplining the underperformers. However, those who are performing up to or beyond the standards you have set actually need attention from you just as much as those who aren’t.
Recognize Them
One of the other things employees consistently say they need from their management is feedback and communication. They want to know how they’re doing, and they want to know that you’re paying attention.
Managers who provide feedback to employees only during annual performance reviews are a bit like a football coach who doesn’t show up until the end of the season. Nothing that shows up on their annual review should come as a surprise to any of your team members – they should have already heard from you!
Deliver feedback regularly in one-on-one meetings, and live on the job when you see something worth commenting on. Everyone should be aware at all times of how they are measuring up, what they should be working to improve, and which of their current behaviors are productive.
Positive reinforcement and recognition of a job well done, whatever form it may take, is one of the quickest and easiest ways to boost employee morale, and also to ensure that good behaviors stick. If an employee is doing a good job, they should get noticed, and if they do an outstanding job, they should be rewarded!
Aside from the benefits of personal recognition, a public acknowledgement of their achievement can even be motivational for other team members. Once they realize that management is recognizing and rewarding hard work and talent, employees are likely to step up their game. Team members may even begin to mentor one another and share best practices, elevating the performance of the entire team.
If you want to make a dramatic impact on the entire team’s productivity and success, focus on acknowledging and rewarding high performance and achievement – not just correcting problems.
