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Feedback - Your People Need It
The early months of a job are the most important in determining whether
the match between employee and organization is going to be successful or
not. If the recruitment has been handled well and reasonable
expectations have been set by all parties, then it comes down to the
relationship between the employee and the manager.
Ideally you
will have a performance management system that incorporates WHAT people
need to do through a job description and HOW they are to do it through
core competencies and behaviours. However, whether you have that in
place or not, early setting of expectations and provision of feedback is
essential.
Regardless of the seniority of the job, it is
important that the new employee has some direction and receives
information on how they are going.
We have previously discussed
Expectations of Success which are the targets for a new employee over
the first few months - possibly even up to the first year.
It is
important to give in-depth and specific feedback at these times. It is
often too easy to say "everything seems to be going OK" whereas a
comment on what they are doing well is far more useful. "I liked the way
you prepared that report, it was clear and concise and I was able to
use it to communicate with the Board." "Thank you for briefing me on the
planned meeting well in advance, it helped me prepare for it"
A
useful reinforcement model is to define exactly what was expected, how
they did it and the consequences. "Part of your job is to plan the
preventative maintenance of the equipment. I see that you have done that
well in advance; it is comprehensive and has been communicated
effectively. As a result, we have had no down time and our margins are
up. Thank you for doing a great job."
With that sort of feedback
the employee knows what it is they did well and why it is important.
They are likely to do it again.
Of course giving positive
feedback is easier than the other kind. If we have to be critical, we'll
tend to try and avoid it. It is important that we don't.
Try
this simple improvement model.
Describe what the problem is.
"One of the behaviors we try to encourage here is team work. I've heard
that the rest of your team is not getting the information they need from
you. Is there a problem?"
Collect the relevant information
which will include the employee's side of the events. "What sort of
obstacles are stopping you from sharing this with them?"
Explore
possible solutions. "Can we organize brief meetings, do it by email or
will phone calls be OK?"
Agree on the action to be taken. "OK,
so you'll send an email with the figures each Friday"
Agree on a
follow up. "Let's meet as a team at the end of next month to check this
is working and see what else we can do to make improvements."
A
few guiding principles also help.
Maintain the employee's self
esteem. Look for the positive aspects of the employee's behavior and
treat any negative aspects as areas that are development opportunities.
Concentrate
on the task or behavior - not the person. For example: "When you say
'get me the file now', the support team feels intimidated and offended"
rather than "You upset the team". Another example may be: "When the
report is late, the invoicing is delayed which increases interest costs"
rather than "You're too slow".
Remember to focus on the
behaviors and performance, not the personality.
Don't fall into
the trap of giving a couple of compliments followed by a "but". Try
replacing this with an "and". It makes all the difference.
With a
structure to follow it is often easier to prepare for giving feedback
and preparation will help reduce the tendency to procrastinate.
We
have talked about the importance of feedback for new employees, of
course it is also important to keep this up with all employees and build
it into your ongoing performance management process.
In times
of a talent shortage it is particularly important to identify any
instances of previously good performers who may be slipping in their
performance and addressing this in a positive way. This way problems are
identified and fixed as soon as possible rather than left to grow and
lead into costly exercises that cause friction, reduce productivity and
increased costs.
About the Author:
Paul Phillips is a Director of Horizon
Management Group; a specialist human resource management consulting
firm. He has over 30 years experience in HR and, while based in
Australia, has worked in a number of overseas locations.