“all done...?” (performance appraisals)

(part of the Total Quality Leadership (TQL) series)

How an organization achieves world class quality excellence depends on its leaders within the organization, at all levels of the organization.  Whether your organization has just started its quality journey with ISO certification or are ready to apply for the world renowned Deming award, the critical success factor to world class quality excellence…it’s all in the leadership!

Leadership skills that make an environment successful are the same skills that we learned when we were little.  Today, performance appraisals.

When we ask children to do something, we tell them what to do and what the expectations are.  "I want you to sweep the kitchen floor and make sure you clean behind the table.  Thank you."  If it's the first time they've done it, we show them how.  We then turn the task over to them, we watch them for a while, and answer questions when asked.  When it appears the child understands the what, the how and the why, we leave them to finish the task. When they are done, they will come in and tell you to "come and look".  You walk into the kitchen, look at the floor and give your comments.  They may range from "good job" to "it looks good but you forgot to clean under the table".

"Good job" means the task is over and expectations have been met.  Depending on the age of the child, if he/she also mopped the floor, expectations were "exceeded".  If the first review means the task was not complete, the child will try again. When finished, the child will come in, and the review process, this time, should net the "good job" appraisal.  If not, the process of sharing with the child what was missed and having the child try again will continue until expectations are met and the "good job" appraisal is achieved.  Not all children learn at the same pace.  It may take only once for one child and several times for another.  One child may just need to understand exactly what you mean ("you didn't tell me to pick it up, you just said 'sweep' ".)  et touché!

Performance appraisals should be used as a way to increase employee achievement.  Back in the day performance evaluations were used as a "gotcha" tool.  To evaluate means to examine and judge something, not a person.  To appraise: HR – to make a formal assessment of an employee or an employee’s performance following an agreed set of criteria.

In our team based environment, both employee and team leader (or manager and director; director and vice president...) sit down and discuss achievements and needed (continuous) improvements of the year past.  This should not be a surprise to either involved.  In a team based environment, we share performance every day.  When a correction needs to be made, we share immediately.  The goal is to continuously coach our team for their success and ours.  The introduction of SMART goals in the '90s was the tool to assist in the professional development of all employees regardless of level.  SMART goals articulate the expectations and eliminate the nebulousness of evaluations (what does "you're a good leader" mean?). 

• Specific  (what is the task or objective?  Attach details if appropriate)
• Measures  (standards and parameters)
• Achievable  (is it?)                         
• Realistic  (is it?)
• Time-bound  (start / finish dates)

When questions are asked, they need to be answered to the satisfaction of the one who asked.  The old "that's why I hired you" comment does nothing to inspire or teach or answer a question.  Today that comment translates to "I don't know but I don't want to tell you I don't know".  It's ok if you don't know, just say that rather than putting the onus on the questioner.

Remember the "one size does not fit all" mantra.  Employees (all humans) learn at a different pace.  Specificity removes ambiguousness in expectations - the "you didn't say x, all you said was....".  The time taken up-front to insure goals are understood, and agreed to, by both the team leader and the associate saves time in behavior and task performance.  It allows for an easy "yes" or "no" when responding to the "all done?" questions in the performance appraisal process.  The goal for both you and the employee is to achieve the "good job" grade.

Are you employing SMART in your business? 

 



"do you want this one or this one?" (Decision-making)

(part of the Total Quality Leadership Skills series)

How an organization achieves world class quality excellence depends on its leaders within the organization, at all levels of the organization.  Whether your organization has just started its quality journey with ISO certification or are ready to apply for the world renowned Deming award, the critical success factor to world class quality excellence…it’s all in the leadership!

It is my (proven) belief that the leadership skills that make an environment successful are the same skills that we learned when we were little and playing in the sandbox.  The sandbox skill I want to talk about today is decision making.

                      

                    

“Which of the two sets do you want?” The choice might be based on a favorite color. The choice might be to pick the orange shovel from one set but the red pail from the other.  As a child, decisions are limited. “Which clothes do want to wear?” “Which toys do you want to take?” “Which sandwich do you feel like eating?” Parents are there to make sure children make the right decisions.  They may have a firm “no” in response or they may try and cajole the child into picking something else. Parent’s responsibility is to tell them the end result of their decisions. Unless the choice is detrimental to the child, letting them make up their own minds is fun for them. It makes them feel grown-up and teaches them life-long learning skills. They face few consequences because parents are their safeguards.

The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose.

As adults, decision-making carries the weight of making the RIGHT choice. Following are the decision-making steps needed to make the right choice:

(1.) Start the decision-making by identifying your wants and needs;

(2.) Rank each;

(3) Gather all the information necessary to make a decision. Explore alternatives, consequences, advantages, and disadvantages. Be objective, not emotional:

(4) Establish how much of a risk you are willing to take. Then, consider these strategies

 (a) choose the safest alternative - the one that can’t fail,

 (b) select the one with the best odds for success,

 (c) pick the option with the most desirable outcome - despite the risk

(5) Eliminate any option that might present a loss you won’t be able to live with – despite high odds for its success; and finally,

(6) Picture how you would deal with negative consequences.

The following is an example of a decision-making process to answer the question:  when to get gas:

The act of choice is the high point of the decision-making process. The more we investigate up front, the better our choice The choice itself is the conclusion of the process.  Once made, decisions will trigger: (a) action, (b) movement, or (c) change. It’s wise to remember, adults do face the consequences of  their decisions and, most of the times, there are no safeguards.  (OMG, I ran out of gas!)

“this is the last time I'm gonna to tell you!“ (listening)

 (part of the Total Quality Leadership (TQL) Skills series)

How an organization achieves world class quality excellence depends on its leaders within the organization, at all levels of the organization.  Whether your organization has just started its quality journey with ISO certification or are ready to apply for the world renowned Deming award, the critical success factor to world class quality excellence…it’s all in the leadership!

It is my (proven) belief that the leadership skills that make an environment successful are the same skills that we learned when we were little and playing in the sandbox.  The next sandbox skill I want to talk about is listening.

So you ever get the feeling you’d be further ahead if you were talking to a wall?  Children listen for things that impact them positively. 

“Vegetables are good for you”…tuned out!  “I have candy”...tuned in!

Adults are the same:

“Take out the garbage”…tuned out!  “The (insert any sports here) game’s on”…tuned in!

“Is dinner ready?”…tuned out!  “Let’s go out to dinner”…tuned in!

It’s human nature.  If something interests you, you’re listening skills are piqued!  If you don’t particularly care, you’re listening skills are off.

Selective listening is tuning out to anything you don’t agree with or do not want to address.  I share this story as an introduction

A mother is on the phone chatting with a friend.  Her son runs in (as children always do when you are on the phone.  They just have that instinct) and yells, “Mommy, mommy!” Mom assumes it’s the usual nothing, shushes him and asks him “can’t you see I’m on the phone?”.  He does this several more times, finally in an the exasperated tone adds, ”but Mo-o-o-o-m, there’s a fire.” She continues to talk on the phone, ignoring him.  Ten minutes later, as they are standing outside on their sidewalk and looking at the embers of what is left of the house, the child looks up at his mother and quietly says,  “I tried to tell you.”

We assume because we know someone, we know what they are going to say.  We shut them out and don’t hear them.

Leaders need active listening skills.  What do those skills “look like”?  When people are speaking to you, show your interest and enthusiasm for what they are saying.  Body language is critical.  Lean forward and share an acknowledgement (not the little bobbing-head dog - an occasional nod will suffice).  Paraphrase back to them what you heard them say.  Ask them questions that help them articulate what they are trying to tell you.  This tells the speaker you are with them in the moment.  You haven’t tuned them out and are not thinking about what your response is going to be “as soon as they take a breath”.

The open door policy is a people-oriented, team based policy that gives (or makes) Managers the time to talk with employees and ask their opinions.  This is extremely critical especially if you do not have daily or weekly meetings with your associates.  I remember the grumbling that went on when this management philosophy was first introduced.  Managers were aghast at the fact that they were actually going to have to talk to “them”.   note:  this was back in the day when we were living in the “me boss, you employee”,  pre-team management environment.  Look at this way, who does the job 8 hours a day?  Are they not (should they not be) the experts?  “They” can make us look good or they can let us walk off the cliff, shaking their heads, thinking, “We tried to tell you.”

Active listening... a critical skill to your achievement as a leader.

BENCHMARKING YOUR PERFORMANCE - 360 degree Performance Appraisals

Some topics come to me automatically and some come about because of a trigger.  The topic for this column, employee performance appraisals, was triggered by a recent UPN comedy Cuts episode.  This Generation-X comedy is about two hair salon co-managers.  They are young and this is their first foray into business.  Her dad owns the salon franchise Cuts and he lets her be a co-manager along with the original young owner of the salon.  To say they “feel their positions of power” would be an understatement. 

This particular episode began when a package was hand-delivered to the salon co-managers from headquarters (dad).  Their first “power” thought:  it’s time for us bosses to rate you workers.  The co-managers’ high-fiving, snickering and laughing came to an abrupt stop when they pulled the papers out of the envelope to discover:  the appraisal forms were for the employees to give their opinion of the co-managers.  The form asked about “all things management”.  It covered questions and asked for opinions about the manager’s work performance and how well they felt the mangers were dealing with them.  As soon as the two realized the “power was in the workers hands” their attitude and behavior changed.  It’s amazing how the “respect for the Individual” and “people are our greatest assets” vision statements really kicks in to a manager’s behavior attitude as soon as it is determined the workers would rate them on their performance as a boss.

Performance appraisals involve observing workers’ behavior and measuring that behavior in accordance with certain standards.  It is central to the staffing function.  It provides feedback needed to evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment and selection.  Lastly, it identifies individuals who are trainable and those who already have the skills to meet current and future job requirements.

Performance appraisal goals should be constructive and motivating.  They should inform employees of the performance rating for review period.  It sets targets for improvements, recognizes accomplishments, and informs employee of what is expected in the future.

An innovative approach at one of my clients was to establish a 3-D model of competency identification.  In seeking to identify the competencies required in a particular role or throughout the organization, the following 3 questions identified the process.

(1)  What activities or functions must the employee perform?

(2)  What strengths, attributes, and qualities does the effective performer

       display?    

(3)  What capabilities are important to develop?

Translating this 3-D model to a simple form and process, my client, an automotive company, uses a process asking all staff members to focus their efforts and feedback in three areas:

(1)  4 to 6 most important responsibilities and demands of the employee’s

      role

(2)  6 organizational competencies that make or break performance and

      enable focused feedback

(3)  specific actions and timing for job and professional growth.

This straightforward outline provides candid information about what is important to discuss, track and assess together (managers and employees)

As the company moves towards a best-in-practice environment (team based management and coaching), multi-source feedback, named 360 degree feedback, is a critical link in the performance management process as employees engage more and more in team, cross-functional and process-based activities, making their work largely invisible to any single source.  Three hundred sixty (360) degree performance provides a balanced, holistic view of contributions and competencies, while reducing the “my view, your view” tension often present when only team leaders and employee perspectives are involved. 

Feedback from everyone you work with provides the optimal tool for enhancing leadership and management capabilities, particularly when a company is trying to develop a more open, communicative culture.  When people receive honest, specific feedback from their bosses, colleagues, and associates, they often come to understand how their behaviors affect others – the need for change in some of those behaviors.

Organizations are taking varied approaches to transform the performance management process from an administrative burden to a business interaction that is inseparable from the work being done.  There is no magic formula for success in performance management.  The key is to harness the energy around what is important to the organization and apply it toward establishing an effective process deserving a top rating – one that “meets or exceeds expectations.”

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