As an HR Manager, today's topic is near and dear to my heart. If I had a dollar for every time I stumbled into a situation where a supervisor or manager had been tolerating poor performance or behavior for years, I would be a very wealthy woman!
Unfortunately, it seems to be an extremely common occurrence for leaders to avoid providing needed feedback to their employees. Even more interesting is seeing grown men and women (who by all accounts are otherwise solid business people) disintegrate into a jiggling glob of jelly when faced with the prospect of sitting down with an employee to discuss an issue. I really get a chuckle when these are the same people that boast about how they really let their employee have it. As if that in and of itself is supposed to make me beam with pride!?!
As leaders, one of our primary responsibilities is to give open and honest feedback to our employees. Feedback should be frequent and preferably done in an informal manner and setting. Whether it is a sincere compliment for a job well done, or a discussion about what is not going well, leaders need to make communication with their employees a top priority. Let's face it, if your employees do not know what is expected of them, or how they are doing, how can you expect to run a successful and profitable business unit?
Now I know the fear that can come with facing a potentially difficult discussion with an employee. Allow me to share a story of a situation that is forever seared into my memory. Within the first few days of starting my first supervisory position (many many moons ago) my boss called me in and told me that I needed to deal with a situation that had become increasingly problematic. She went on to tell me that the employees in the department had been complaining about one of their co-workers. She shared that this employee had a significant case of body odor and no one had ever dealt with it. Oh great!! I barely knew where the bathroom was yet and you want me to tell an employee that she smells??? OMG!! Better yet, my manager did not do a thing to prepare me for the conversation. No insights, no suggestions, no nothing!
So now what? Well I decided to go the supreme source of all business knowledge ...MY FATHER! I was actually very fortunate to have had a dad who was my own personal leadership guru. After listening to my neurotic breakdown about how I could ever tell another human being they smelled, he calmly walked me through what to say and how to say it. We practiced a few times and I took good notes. The next day I went into work, procrastinated all day, but finally mustered up the courage to meet with this unsuspecting employee. At first, the employee denied that there was a problem. She then claimed it was a medical issue (which it may well have been) and finally shared that she was just too tired at night to do her laundry. We both came to an agreement that perhaps continuing to wear the same clothes in 90 degree weather, coupled with only showering twice a week, may not have been the best recipe for successful summer hygiene. In the end, I was able to have a supportive, caring and completely non-judgemental conversation (as my dad taught me) which resulted in a positive outcome. I then went out after work and had a couple cocktails to celebrate this milestone in my young career.
Despite the fact that the majority of feedback required of leaders is not often related to such personal topics as body odor, many supervisors/managers still struggle or flat out avoid having needed discussions with their employees. Failure to provide feedback not only deprives your employees of development opportunities, but it also has the potential to instill distrust between you and your team. If employees cannot trust that you have their back enough to talk to them about issues, then why should they have any loyalty to you or the company you work for?
One other thing to consider- If you are someone who is constantly avoiding having tough discussions with your employees, frequently dances around employee related issues, or are constantly minimizing the significance of the employee issues that are brought to your attention , then you need to look yourself in the mirror and say hello to the next performance issue you need to be dealing with- Your Own! That's right- being able to provide constructive feedback is a basic requirement for any management role. If you cannot do it in a timely and effective manner, then you yourself have a development opportunity!
Learning to effectively deliver feedback is a skill and it takes a great deal of practice. Tomorrow we will cover dealing with behavioral (conduct) issues in the workplace. How to identify, investigate and ultimately deal with the issue. Providing open and honest feedback to the employee is critical to ensuring an effective outcome!!
As always....I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on today's topic....or any other previous post.
Thanks for reading!
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