In This Issue:
August 2004
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From the Heart
In
past issues we have written about planning
and achieving business growth. We've talked
about the ten elements you can look at to
assess your firm's growth readiness and
three things a leader can do to truly lead
a growth firm.
All of these elements can stir the heart
and engage and stimulate spirited performance.
They create a business that is recognized
as vital, that future clients, suppliers
and staff want to be connected to.
In this issue we'll talk about a source
of heart and pride that is often over-looked:
quality management and coaching. It's too
easy for business and the people who advise
you to focus on the big, flashy stuff. Branding,
marketing, leadership theory, strategic
selling (you know them all) can be pretty
sexy. But none of them will hold water without
an engaged staff.
If the heart of the business is where pride
and profit connect, then management and
coaching can be thought of as the circulatory
system. High performing managers know it's
their job to bring vital energy to where
the work needs to get done and take away
waste and negative forces that hamper performance.
Coaching and the quality of one-to-one relationship
between manager and performer is the foundation
of a successful business. We all know that.
It's common sense. And like many things,
"common sense is not that common".
Before reading the featured article on quality
management and coaching, try this acid test:
| • |
Do
the top performers in your
organization come to their
manager with their own performance
review?
|
| • |
Do
professionals and staff
seek explicit structured
feedback from peers and
cross-functional executives?
|
| • |
Is
the challenge getting over
the dread of the conversation
or finding time to meet
frequently?
|
| • |
Do
you look forward to coaching
and performance management? |
|
Strengthening The Heart Through Performance
Management - Does your delivery of performance
evaluations need evaluating?
By Sherri
Spikes Managing Partner,
Walmsley & Co.
Are you one of the multitude of managers who
feels like the annual performance review program
at your company is ineffective and causes
employees and yourself to dread this time
of year? Unfortunately, you are not alone.
Many managers and employees feel the same
way.
To turn your performance review program into
a sound performance management system that
is a great morale booster, expect your staff
to be a part of the process. We advise our
clients to have each employee complete their
own review and rank themselves based on their
performance. Simultaneously, we ask the manager
to select a group of the employee's peers
to complete an evaluation form on the individual
- the manager completes a form as well.
Many managers are initially concerned
that employees will rank themselves too high
or that peer feedback will be based on personal
feelings versus actual performance of their
colleague. What they discover is quite the
opposite.
Since we are inherently our own toughest critics,
we find that in many instances, staff actually
rank themselves lower than the manager. An
evaluation form allowing them to note goals
and improvements needed gives them the opportunity
to do this for themselves. The manager then
compiles the review forms into one master
evaluation taking into consideration the staff
comments, the employee who is being reviewed
and the manager's own personal experience.
Additionally, a performance management system
conducted in this way is outstanding for managers
who are charged with overseeing satellite
offices where they are not physically present
everyday. By getting feedback from colleagues
and the reviewer a comprehensive foundation
is laid for goal setting, "atta boys"
and improvements that need to be met.
What about your own performance review?
Yes, you will need to follow the same principles
and allow your staff to complete a performance
review on you. The feedback you receive will
be more valuable than anything you may receive
from your own manager. However you will need
to acknowledge the feedback and make changes
where necessary.
To find out if this system really works to
help boost morale in the office, just ask
Northeast Delta Dental, an insurance company
in Concord, NH who ranked 4th this year as
one of the Best Small Companies in America.
They attribute much of their success to their
management and performance management practices
which follows these principles. Their President
and CEO, Thomas Raffio says, "As
we grow, we do our best to keep the heart
and soul of a small organization and implement
many of our employees suggestions".
Here is a quick checklist to help you review
your own practices against these principles:
1. |
Dialogue 1st, document 2nd:
Do not put anything in a written
evaluation or use examples of
misconduct with a staff member
if you have not addressed it verbally
with them in advance and given
them a chance to improve. This
is an evaluation affecting their
annual increase; anything which
needs improvement should have
already been mentioned to them.
However, if you see a repeated
problem in the peer reviews that
you were unaware of, you should
discuss it with the employee and
determine if you want to include
it on the formal evaluation.
|
| 2. |
Follow
the Golden Rule:
Don't take phone calls, cut the
meeting short or give too little
time (an hour at least, but I
would leave two full hours on
my calendar.) This is great time
to really hear your employee,
clear the air - or let them know
you appreciate what a great employee
they are. On too many occasions,
those who contribute the
most get the least of our attention
- really give the great employee
your attention here as well.
|
| 3. |
Confirm
your view of performance for
each professional:
Don't wait until you receive everyone
else's feedback to complete the
evaluation form. This is a big
one - don't get lazy. By completing
it before you get everyone else's
feedback, you are pushing yourself
to think of your own experiences
with the individual and not letting
other information influence your
response.
|
| 4. |
Write
the evaluation in pencil.
Stimulate quality dialogue. As
managers, we are not 'all knowing',
we are human. We could be wrong.
Let the employee know this is
a process of dialogue and goal
setting and the document is dynamic.
If you need to change it in the
middle of the meeting - do it.
The employee will respect you
even more.
|
| 5.
| Create
possibility and fun:
Set up this time of year as a
positive with your staff. Let
everyone know their comments will
be held in strict confidence so
they feel comfortable in being
honest.
|
|
Ideally, performance appraisals work more
effectively if they are done on employment
anniversary dates. This un-couples them
from compensation reviews. It makes them
more honest without getting tied into positioning
for raises, and lessens the potential for
unexpected emotional discussions.
It's too easy for us to be stuffed shirts.
Loosen up. They may have told you in Harvard
Business Review or in business school that
business is impersonal, but they missed out
on something really important. Be authentic,
be human and encourage personal excellence.
Four reminders:
| 1) |
Recognition:
Almost everyone wants to perform
well and be recognized for effort
and results
|
| 2) |
Focus
and context: You cannot
motivate others, you can only
help them connect the dots; why
are we headed in this direction,
what do I need
to do to contribute and how
can I perform it better?
|
| 3) |
Reward:
focus first on internal reward,
what's important to them. External
reward occasionally follows behavior
and results. Help your people
identify their own internal reward
structure and reinforce it through
self-fulfilling performance.
|
| 4) |
Motivation:
people criticize motivation as
“hollow”, “tastes
great, less filling”. Motivation
is a lot like food and exercise,
use it daily. |
|
List of Upcoming Events
Private
events and workshops:
Senior
Team Off-sites
|
Leading
Rapid Growth |
September
& October 2004
|
Senior
Team Off-site
|
Revitalizing
Leaders' Influence |
October
2004 |
Implementation
Workshop Series
|
Business
Relationship Building |
June 2004 - January 2005 |
| Clinics
& Coaching |
Growing
Informal Leadership |
June
- December 2004 |
|
Keynotes
and speaking events:
Biznet
(email Thomasss
Moss at Biznet)
|
What
Clients Want
And how top performers
meet those expectations
(more
info)
|
September
20, 2004
|
CAFE
Canadian Association of Family
Enterprise
|
A
Founder's Challenge
What it takes to create success
from an entrepreneurial idea
A Successor's Challenge
What it takes to accept and succeed
a successful entrepreneurial parent
|
October
20, 2004 |
|
Public
workshops:
Please email
Steve for details and dates. We are unveiling
a new series with target launches in Washington,
DC, Dallas TX and Toronto ON.
Series
1
|
Foundations
of strong independent service
businesses |
Fall
2004
|
Series
2
|
Great
interactions, great dialogue,
great sales success
|
To
be announced |
Series
3
|
Relationship
Building
What makes engaged and
enthusiastic clients
|
To be announced |
| Series
4 |
Convert
your added value into new revenue
streams
Innovative service approaches
|
To
be announced |
| Stretch
Series |
Mastery
Roundtable
A "faculty-driven" approach
giving small firm professionals
access to a "board"
of advisors and practitioners
in Business Coaching, Legal, Financial
Management, Marketing, Web-deployment,
Business Plan/Launch and other
key disciplines. |
Fall
2004 |
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