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The Performance Equation Adds Up To Better-Prepared Supervisors

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By Anthony Marchese, April 20, 2021

Most organizations do a great job developing strategy and working with divisions and departments to cascade goals to employees. Yet, the vast majority of supervisors seek support to help employees translate their goals into actionable results.

In many instances, the ability of an employee to successfully meet her goals requires learning new information, developing new or enhancing existing expertise, and having a mechanism in place to track her progress.

Opportunities for professional development and career advancement remain a primary driver in choosing and staying with an employer. Employees seek a work environment that is committed to their growth. They also want an environment that helps them develop a measurable strategy to reach their desired destination.

According to recent Gallup studies, 50 percent of employees do not know what is expected of them on a day-to-day basis. More than 70 percent report not having mastered the necessary skills to successfully do their job. We can do a better job preparing our supervisors!

The Performance Equation© considers the multidimensional nature of human performance. Performance is driven by the role Meaning, Mindset, Mastery, Malleability, and Measurement play in helping:

  • Assess one’s current state
  • Plot one’s desired state.
  • And develop a strategy with measurable goals to ensure that clarity, competency, and capacity exists to effectively execute job responsibilities.

Employees can execute their jobs when they have a clear awareness of expectations, and either have the necessary skills or are in the process of developing them. It’s also critical that the capacity for continual learning is present to ensure ongoing relevancy.

Learn the Performance Equation© to:

  • Equip leaders with tools to better understand what matters most to employees and how to align the mission and values of the so employees know how they fit into the “bigger picture.”
  • Examine the intimate relationship between one’s mindset and behavior. Mindset drives how individuals respond to performance feedback, confront difficult situations, handle ambiguity, respond to failure, and take on new tasks.
  • Integrate the latest research-based practices in adult learning, neuroscience, and human motivation theory to help supervisors understand how to assess current capabilities and what to do to help support growth.
  • Embrace the fact that diverse teams are better teams. However, without an inclusive, non-threatening approach to understand, celebrate, discuss, develop, and leverage behavioral differences, teams are likely to encounter greater misunderstanding, poor collaboration, and be impaired due to crippling conflict.
  • Establish a clear understanding of where one is currently in their career or skill development and introduce a path forward creating goals that are driven by experiences that are proven to be most impactful.

I’ll be presenting the virtual training The Performance Equation: Providing Feedback That Makes a Difference on May 27 from 12:30-4 pm.

I hope to see you there. [email protected]

Re-shape the Way You Think About Performance Conversations

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By Anthony Marchese, April 15, 2020

There are few expressions within the nomenclature of the workplace more effective at generating a physiological reaction than “performance review” or “performance feedback.” For supervisors and individual contributors alike, the mere mention of these words have a tendency to invoke a lot of feelings including: anxiety, frustration, confusion, apathy, resentment, gratitude, or even pleasure. How do you feel about performance feedback? How do your employees feel?

As a lover of all things leadership, my own research and experiences reveal that supervisors (and those whom they manage) have less than favorable things to say about the nature of how feedback is provided, and how often it is provided. They even question the overall usefulness of that which is provided. Interestingly, many non-governmental organizations have eliminated the annual performance review process entirely. Instead, they require managers to have ongoing performance-related conversations throughout the year.

Feedback is intended to recognize and reinforce positive behavior and to act as a catalyst to correct poor performance. The ability to provide feedback that generates the best from employees is not supernaturally imbued upon us during our first day as a supervisor. Most learn of its importance and what works/doesn’t through trial and error. Many supervisors describe struggling with (and even dreading) feedback of any kind, as they may have a firm grasp of the performance management “process” but have little confidence in their skills to translate the process into positive employee performance. In other words, how do I as a supervisor communicate my expectations and provide ongoing support so that my employees have all they need to be successful?

Conversely, employees may complain to colleagues that they don’t know what their supervisor wants or aren’t sure what they think about their work. They feel frustrated after spending a lot of time on a task only to learn that it didn’t meet expectations and must be redone. Like emotional intelligence, providing feedback effectively is a skill that can – and should – be developed. It is possible to reshape how both you and your employees feel about performance conversations. Here are two tips that can help:

Consider your own behavioral style and that of your employee(s) BEFORE providing feedback. Most of us speak one of four distinct languages that are evident by our normal behavior: Results/Outcomes, Analysis/Data, Energy/Creativity, and Relationships/Collaboration. Knowing this information can help you provide feedback that is better understood and useful to your employee.

Make constructive feedback impactful. Don’t assume that your employee knows how to respond to constructive feedback, even if you think your observations and follow-up requests are clear. Changing behavior (or developing new expertise) is a process. Learn how the three F’s (Focus, Feedback, Fix) can make all the difference!

For more information, join me for the webinar Providing Performance Feedback that Makes a Difference on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 from 1-2 pm ET. Click here to register for the webinar.