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As Published in Business
2 Business, February 2008
The One Reason You Have a Workforce
It's about Execution
By Ira S Wolfe
The quarterback drops back, plants his feet, and releases a perfectly thrown ball.
Despite his form, the ultimate rating of this passer depends upon how many of his passes are caught. This in turn depends upon how far he can throw, how accurate the passes are, the timing with his receivers and ultimately his receivers' ability to catch and hold onto the ball.
The same dynamics take place everyday in businesses around the world. The difference is that in the working place it is not a ball being tossed but feedback being exchanged. When walking around the workplace, watch out for misdirected communication and don’t trip over the dropped balls!
To improve performance managers everywhere, From boardrooms to blogs, are talking about performance management. The discussions are long overdue. The reasons are obvious.
Performance management is the heart and soul of execution. CEOs have identified a lack of execution as their top concern in 2007. With a slowing economy and increased competition, execution is likely to remain to-of-mind. Past failure positions performance management as the strategic solution du jour, right where it belongs.
Performance management means setting clear expectations for all employees and managing the process toward those ends. Performance management is not – I repeat NOT – the revision of the annual review form or a software program to record once-a-year feedback.
Improving performance requires managers to give ongoing and frequent feedback to their employees. These employees in turn need to report their progress - or challenges - to their managers on a consistent frequent basis. In other words, managers need to toss accurate feedback toward employees and the employees need to be in the right mindset to catch and run with it.
Quality feedback requires two-way interactions: the messenger needs to be candid but empathetic. The employee must be receptive to hearing it. In other words, managers giving feedback need to give specifics about what's working or not working. They also need to be aware how employees react to their words and actions. Recipients must believe in the manager's ability to help him succeed just the way receivers need to trust their quarterback.
It's pretty well agreed that feedback in many businesses is a once a year event, isolated to the annual performance review. The exception occurs when the employee is not meeting expectations. Ongoing, continuous feedback is rare, if it exists at all. Without quality and frequent feedback - that is, practice, practice, practice - performance management will fail.
Unfortunately giving and receiving feedback is much easier than it sounds. Most efforts to improve the feedback focus on coaching and training the manager. Little if any training is afforded the employee. That would be equivalent to the quarterback practicing his passing every day while his receiving corps shows up only at game time
This disconnect between giving and receiving feedback leads to four possible outcomes - one productive, one status quo and two un-productive.
The one and only productive result occurs when the manager is candid and the employee is receptive. The "quarterback" manager releases his feedback in a way that the "receiving" employee is ready and willing to catch it. He needs to be willing to layout and catch the feedback even though he knows he might get hit hard as soon as he catches it. He’s willing to catch the ball at all costs because his role on the team requires him to catch the ball. This interaction happens with regular and ongoing frequency in football stadiums across the United States on a weekly basis. In the workplace, this occurs only rarely. Many employees agree to play the position but aren’t willing to run the right plays or catch the ball. It's no wonder that organizations experience turnover, mistakes, and unhappy customers.
The least productive outcome takes place when the manager neuters the feedback and the employees aren't interested in receiving it. This sanitized interaction occurs when the manager is trying to be nice and the employee is too sensitive to receive it. This can also take place when the employee is overly-confident in his or her abilities and doesn't feel any improvement is needed. Whichever the cause, employee performance becomes stagnant at best and unproductive for the organization.
Now imagine that you have not only the most accurate arm in football but you can rifle a pass harder and farther than anyone. Unfortunately you don't have any receivers who can run fast enough or are willing to catch these bullet passes. If you have ever managed an employee, you have likely been in the same position- you had some important information or advice to share, but the other person could care less. This most disruptive interaction occurs when the manager is candid but the employee is not receptive. Whether the candor comes across as abrasive or just plain straight-talk to a closed-minded employee, this relationship is doomed to fail and the organization suffers because of it. Teams don't win when the receivers don't catch the balls thrown in their direction.
Finally the most meaningless feedback results when the manager whitewashes what he has to say but the employee is willing and able. Imagine having a speedy wide receiver with the most gifted hands ever to play the game but the quarterback only lobs short passes to him when he is sure to catch it. The completion rate will be high but the waste of talent and gains in performance will be weak. Complacency and camaraderie will exist but performance gains (continuous improvement) will suffer. Even worse, the talented receiver may seek out new challenges and expect to be traded to a more competitive team, leaving you with a nice-guy quarterback on a losing team. Like passing the football, feedback requires coordination and cooperation between a manager and his report. If one fails, so does the other.
Effective feedback is a two-way interaction and the manager must control whether the feedback he passes is aimed in the right direction and arrives in a timely manner at his reports.
Sidebar #1
Performance Management Primer
Where does a business start to improve the feedback it gives and receives? It begins with self-awareness. Self-awareness goes well beyond just taking a DISC or Myers-Brigg Type assessment. Yes, these tools are a means to the end. Too many organizations unfortunately see these tools as the end-all-and-be-all of developing employees. They are the beginning - but just the beginning.
Approaching self-awareness encompasses understanding your strengths, limitations, values, and motives. It helps an individual leverage his strengths and either improve or neutralize his limits. Equally important, self-awareness is necessary if any employee has any chance of understanding how his or her behaviors and actions impact the responses and receptiveness to bosses, peers and reports.
The role of self-awareness of the manager or a future manager is paramount in coaching others and managing performance. Without a crystal clear understanding of his own behaviors, motives, and actions, he has no chance of reaching his potential or helping others achieve their potential. As a manager, you are the quarterback of your team and it is your responsibility to know how far, fast and accurate you can throw the "feedback."
It is also a manager's responsibility to know how far, fast and capable your receivers are of catching the ball. Assessments used for self-assessment also help managers understand the unrealized talent as well as potential challenges they have sitting on the bench. Professional coaches don't just try out their quarterbacks but assess every player on their team. They know who can be a starter, back-up and player on special teams. Businesses can learn a lot from professional sports on how to hire and develop successful employees.
Ira S Wolfe is the president of Success Performance Solutions and the author of The Perfect Labot Storm™2.0. |
