Many people find it hard to tell someone about the way they do things – whether it’s in or out of work. As a business owner, a manager, or a team leader, you’re faced with an ethical dilemma on speaking about your employees’ performance at work. This conversation concerns everyone in the workplace and must be openly discussed, no matter how taboo it gets. The only way to arrive with a working solution is by talking it through with your employee.
If you’re unsure where or how to strike a conversation with an employee about his work performance, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how you can break the ice and start helping your team improve upon their work.
Ask how they’re doing
Ask the concerned employee on their own impression of their work performance. This overall assessment could help you construct your next move on opening up about the employee’s goals. By asking how your employee thinks about his performance, you’ll be able to develop a strategy on how to illustrate how your views differ from his, in a way that neither discriminates nor offends.
In most cases you’ll find out that your employee shares the same mindset as yours, but there are times when there’s a partial or a total misalignment. In this case you’ll need to point out specific areas of their work where they are underperforming at.
Point out non-negotiable expectations
After establishing your employee’s desire to improve upon his work performance, go ahead and point out non-negotiable expectations. A detailed list of the things that he needs to work on would be helpful. This should also include your desired goals.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are helpful in measuring progress on your employee’s work. Discuss how his current metrics are failing, and emphasize the things he should do to reverse the downtrend and regain his confidence in his work.
Collaborate with your employee towards his goals
Employees tend to perform best when they do the things they like or those aligned with their personal goals. But if they have a hard time trying to accomplish tasks on their own, it’s time for you to step in.
Don’t just step in simply because you can – ask questions instead of giving them directions. Collaborate with your employee towards his goals to increase his motivation to accomplish them. Employees will appreciate your help even more if you guide them through asking the right questions. Simply put, there’s no room for being intrusive.
Describe specific behaviors
You’ll be able to target his pain points and how he can improve by being specific about the ways your employee does his assigned tasks. Make sure to describe detailed real-life examples of scenarios wherein the employee has failed to meet the expected deliverables.
Being vague doesn’t answer the question “why did he fail doing this task”. Be specific as much as possible to help the employee develop a mental picture of the failure, and have a resolution plan moving forward.
Construct a common plan
Once you’ve done all the steps above, it’s time to make sure that you and your employee are on the same page. Make sure to ask your employee on how he wants to deal with his work performance going forward. By doing so you can easily identify pitfalls so you can help him achieve his improvements faster and easier.
A concrete timeline of events should also be established. This would serve as the primary metric against how the employee fared in his improvement journey. Be open about the outcomes that the employee must anticipate should his plan succeeds or fails.
Final thoughts
Every employee appreciates a boss who cares about his work performance, especially if they collaborate towards achieving common goals. They say that it takes two to tango – you and your employee can resolve productivity issues by working together. Sit down with your employee and give ample time to construct a solid performance improvement program.
The post How to Tell an Employee About His Work Performance appeared first on Sprout.
source https://sprout.ph/blog/employee-work-performance-goals/
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