Employees – The Right Feedback at the Right Time

Do you think giving tough feedback is like the dark side of management?

Do you see Darth Vader looking down on his victim, condemning him, and then zapping him with his light saber?

Do you lose sleep the night before a tough employee review or stew on it during waking hours?

How would this person handle the feedback?

How can you give this message in a way that lets them know you care for them and the success of the business?

by: Mary L. Larson HawkPoint Consulting on Montana-Jobs.net

This dark picture of constructive feedback has led me to think of a more proactive way to give feedback. Try these things:

# Clearly define and set the employee’s and your expectations up front.

# Give feedback (whether it is good or not so good) throughout the year. Don’t just “save it up” for a formal yearly review.

# Focus on the task and the expectations around the task – not on the person. Give clear examples of actions that do or do not meet the expectation set.

# Make a plan with dates to discuss and update expectations – and document it.

Whether spoken or unspoken, expectations have a powerful impact on our thoughts, feelings, and actions. They play a key role in driving our attitudes. Research shows that employees who have clearly defined, well communicated expectations find more satisfaction and success in their work than people whose expectations remain unspoken and unrealized. Businesses who clearly communicate the expectations of the employer and who understand their employees’ expectations reap the rewards of increased productivity and reduced turnover.

Think of these questions next time you are preparing to talk with an employee about expectations of a task or job:

# Am I serving this person by not being honest and up front about their performance? (Hopefully your answer is no!)

# Were the expectations explicitly stated to this person? Did he/she demonstrate understanding of the expectations? Was I proactive in communicating the expectations? What is my part in this?

# What were the employee’s expectations of the task? Were they clearly stated to me? Did I demonstrate my understanding of his/her expectations? Did our expectations of the task or job match?

# Did we communicate clearly and often?

Taking a proactive rather than a reactive stance will help you strengthen employee relations and head off many of those potential “Darth Vader” talks. Don’t kid yourself. It won’t head them all off. In the event of those more difficult conversations, you will be more prepared. See Hawk Point Consulting’s http://www.hawkpointinc.com monthly specials for more ideas.

For more information call (206)854-1429 or email [email protected].

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