Optimizing Employee Contributions
Optimizing Employee Contributions
Optimizing Employee Contributions
This article describes proven techniques that managers and prospective managers can use to diagnose employee problems, coach employees, mentor star performers, and turn on teamwork. All of these techniques are being presented as a cohesive set of techniques focused on optimizing employee contributions. By following these techniques, managers will be able to not only optimize their staff contributions but will also leverage employee potential and develop their staff for higher-responsibility positions within the organization. The information presented in this article has supporting research data that has been omitted for brevity purposes. Readers are welcome to request supporting research data or verify the efficacy of these techniques with other managers that practice them.
Diagnose employee problems
Managers have the responsibility to ensure that their staff is performing optimally. Before any group of people can perform at peak, managers need to assess the staff group dynamics to ensure that problems will not get in the way of good performance. Usually, when problems exist among staff members the team performance tends to degrade, morale is diminished and employee turnover takes place. By following the techniques presented in this section, managers will be able to assess the group for any existing or potential problems and take proactive action to diffuse the conditions that could create a detrimental situation.
First, do away with any preconceived judgments about what the problem is until all the details are clear. It is critical to maintain an open mind for diagnosing the problem. The root cause of most performance problems has nothing to do with an employee's character.
To begin diagnosing the problems assess what the root cause of the problem may be. The root cause of most performance problems falls into one or more of the following categories: Expectations: The employee may not know what is expected and may not even be aware that there is a problem. Although the problem may seem obvious to the manager, the problem is not necessarily obvious to the employee. This is a classic symptom of the employee not receiving appropriate constructive feedback.
Training and Ability to do the required work: The employee may not have the required skills to do the job. If the employee does not have the aptitude to perform the tasks consider reassigning or dismissing the employee; But if the skills are the root cause of the problem then assess whether the employee has appropriate training to do the job (formal classroom training or education). This may be an opportunity to provide the employee with needed on-the-job training.
Job Design: The employee may not have the appropriate tools to perform the job. Resources to get the job done are not only physical tools but also convenient access to information, people, and management support. The system surrounding the employee may not support good performance. There may be issues related to communications, scheduling, and teamwork within or between departments.
Work Environment: The employee does not feel fairly treated. Good performance is not rewarded or is punished. The employee may feel that being good worker only results in a bigger workload with no rewards. Poor performance among the group is tolerated. The high-performance employees feel demoralized because everyone is treated the same regardless of individual performance. Employees are negatively affected by any of the following: discrimination, favoritism, lack of sensitivity to personal problems, and harassment.
Personal Motivation problem: A problem may exist in the employee's personal life and may be contributing to poor performance. For example, lack of concentration can be related to problems at home (marital problems or problems with children), the employee may be arriving late frequently as a result of parental responsibilities or may be suffering from an ailment that discomforts or distracts him from his daily activities. The employee's low morale and attitude may be preventing the employee from applying his or her skills and abilities. Low morale or negative attitudes may be a symptom of excessive job demands or not receiving deserved positive feedback.
Before taking any action on correcting a performance problem (coaching or giving constructive feedback) think about the 5 poor-performance root cause categories and asses which could be the poor-performance culprit. Ask the employee for feedback to help access correctly which may be the root cause of the problem. In the end, it may not be an employee performance intervention that is needed but a change in the work environment or change in management behavior.
Coaching the Staff
Managers must be good coaches. Coaching is a discipline used to optimize employee contributions by improving and enhancing the performance of both marginal and good employees. There are two categories of coaching that require the same skill set and follow the same process. Which category of coaching is used depends on the type of employee to be coached: 1. Performance problem coaching for marginal employees and 2. Development coaching for good employees.
A. Performance Problem Coaching
Performance problem coaching is used with an employee whose performance or behavior is not meeting expectations. The purpose is to correct the root cause problem to get the employee to meet what is expected of him or her.
Use performance problem coaching whenever:
The employee's quality or productivity is not meeting expectations.
The employee's behavior interferes with performance.
The employee's behavior interferes with the performance of others.
The employee violates a policy or procedure.
Tips for performance problem coaching:
Address problems early before they become bigger problems. Get to the root cause of the problem.
Become a problem solver and not an adversary. Birds of a feather flock together. People will want to become allies with those who want to solve problems.
Involve the employee as much as possible in the problem. It is that individual's job or career that is at stake.
If the problem persists, document actions taken and discussions with the employee. Inform upper management of the situation and work with the HR department to take additional necessary disciplinary action (e.g., probation, termination).
B. Development Coaching
Development coaching is used to further develop employees that already meet expectations. The purpose is to maximize an employee's performance in the current job. This type of coaching usually is less intense or emotionally demanding than performance problem coaching. With performance problem coaching, the employee's continued employment is in question. Development coaching is used to turn a good employee into a great employee.
Use development coaching to:
Add new skills or hone existing skills.
Help the employee apply knowledge or skills to the job
Optimize performance for the employee to work more effectively
Prepare the employee for an upcoming project or assignment
Help the employee find solutions to problems.
Whichever type of coaching is being applied, it will occur in the form of a conversation that follows a specific process.
To be most effective when coaching, there are four steps to follow:
Set the meeting purpose: Describe the purpose of the discussion and the reason for it. Seek the employee's involvement in the meeting and communicate the reason it is in his or her best interest to actively participate.
Gather and clarify information to define the situation: Use inquiry to gain information. Practice active listening and hear what is really being said. Offer performance improvement/enhancement ideas and provide feedback as necessary. Use the diagnosis process described earlier.
Identify and develop ideas to address the situation: Inquire to solicit new ideas, offer ideas and discuss and develop the best ideas.
Reiterate what was discussed then determine an action plan to follow: Ensure that what is being said is clearly understood. Agree on action steps that are clear, measurable, achievable, and have target dates. Write down the action plan and actively monitor and track its progress. Schedule a follow up quick meeting to access progress.
Each of these four steps is important. Eliminating or abbreviating any of them will undermine the other and the effectiveness of the entire coaching process.
Mentor Star Performers:
Mentoring is the strategy used with an employee who exceeds performance expectations and is ready for new opportunities. The purpose of mentoring is to further develop and guide an employee to assume additional responsibilities and/or advance in his or her career. Mentoring involves sharing knowledge and experience to help an employee create and fulfill a career plan. Instead of correcting a performance problem or addressing a development need in the current job, the focus of mentoring is for extending the employee's career and helping the person to prepare for another job. Mentoring helps a great employee grow and advance.
Use mentoring whenever:
An employee's performance exceeds expectations and the person is ready for advancement or new opportunities.
An employee seeks career-related advice.
Management or other relevant positions need to be filled.
Tips for Mentoring
Become aware of the staff's career desires and frustrations. Do not make assumptions! For example, not all outstanding employees want to be managers.
Whatever their aspirations, offer the developmental assignments, training, networking, and personal/professional contacts that will aid in fulfilling those goals.
Do not make promises about promotions or future jobs. Instead, talk about possibilities.
Coordinate these efforts with senior management. Employees' careers may take them into areas that are outside of their manager's direct control.
When mentoring employees that are not star performers, use some a combination of mentoring and coaching to address both long-term career aspirations and the employee's performance in the current job. The balance between the two depends on the extent of the employee's performance deficiencies. It is possible that the optimal next step in an employee's career is outside of the organization. This could include going back to school full time to get an advanced degree or even seeking employment elsewhere. It is better to have a loyal and dedicated person on the team for a short time, who then leaves amicably, than a bitter and resentful person who quits in disgust and maligns the team and the organization afterward.
Turn on the Teamwork
Before managers can turn on teamwork and create a highly productive environment for their staff, they must understand what teams are and the main reasons why teams fail. This will help managers focus on doing the right things and doing the things right from the beginning.
Why teams don't work!
Teams fail for one of two reasons:
They're not supported or encouraged by the organization and are not recognized or rewarded for their efforts.
They're not really teams, but groups (at best) or pseudo-teams (at worst).
Teams eventually flounder in frustration when: 1) they don't have access to necessary resources, 2) they are discouraged from investing time in team activities, 3) they find their results and recommendations ignored. If teams don't receive positive feedback for their efforts, teamwork won't be a positive value for them. Most people do what they are recognized for.
What is a group? What is a team?
What do we mean by the terms group and team? Generally, a group is three or more people who have something in common (for example, people stuck in traffic together, all retirees, or people who like vanilla ice cream) would never be mistaken for teams. However, in the workplace a working group is often mistaken for a team. The following list describes the essential attributes, consequences, and examples of different kinds of "teams" identified by Katzenbach and Smith in the book "The Wisdom of Teams":
A working group is any number of people who work in the same setting and share, or profess to share, a common set of concerns. What distinguishes a working group from a team relates to accountability. Working group members are individually accountable for specific goals, but there is no joint effort or mutual accountability. The group's output is the sum of the individual contributions. Examples include most organizations and departments. An example in sports is the U.S. Figure Skating Team, whose members train and compete as individuals or pairs.
A pseudo-team is a group of people, often a large group, who call themselves a team, although not functioning as such, and whose interactions actually detract from each member's individual performance. Their output is much less than the sum of the individual contributions. Examples include most committees, the U.S. Congress, and the 1994 U.S. Women's Figure Skating Team (Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding).
A real team is a small number of people, ideally five to ten, who take the risks of joint action and work product. They have specific goals and a common approach for which they hold themselves individually and mutually accountable. Real team members also possess complementary skills "functional, problem solving and interpersonal". They are committed to a meaningful purpose focused on performance. Their output is more than the sum of individual contributions. Examples include orchestras and many sports teams.
A high-performance team possesses all the attributes of a real team, plus a deep commitment to each other's personal growth and success. Their output is much more than the sum of individual contributions. Examples include the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, the heroes of 9/11, and the Apollo 13 team.
A potential team is a team that has begun the process of taking joint action, but it is still in early stages of development. (In team development lingo, it is "forming" or "storming.") The risks the members are taking have not yet paid off. Their output (thus far) is less than the sum of the individual contributions. Examples are new teams.
Brainstorming and Consensus
Brainstorming and Consensus are two interactive processes essential for the functioning of real teams. These two processes should be practiced within the team frequently. Brainstorming is the unrestrained exchange of ideas without judgment or discussion, where team members build on each other's ideas. When done right, great ideas result from the experience.
Consensus is the result of the best thinking of all group members. How do managers obtain the best thinking from their teams? Simply by reaching a decision acceptable enough that no team member opposes it. This means that all team members support the decision unanimously. There is no voting to accept any particular solution based on the majority vote. If the team members possess necessary complementary skills, then the opinions and buy-in of every member are critical to the team's success. Without the need to vote on any particular set of ideas, teams reach consensus by brainstorming to generate ideas and potential solutions. Then they zero in on, and tweak, the best ideas by using well-honed communication skills like listening and assertion, tuning in to each other's nonverbal cues, and practicing respect.
To conduct and effective brainstorm session, follow the steps below:
As a team define the reality of a particular issue or situation. Define clearly what is to be solved. Ensure everyone in the team understands the purpose of the brainstorming session.
Brainstorm only ideas; no need to reach any decisions yet.
Have someone record down all ideas on a flip chart for review later.
Give everyone a minute or two of silence to think about the ideas discussed.
Invite everyone to call out ideas without holding back. Encourage discussion and comments.
Encourage people to take over some of the ideas discussed and build upon ideas generated by others.
Take a break." Sleep on the ideas" discussed for a few minutes or a few days.
Meet again to decide about the ideas discussed and use consensus to select the best idea. Zero in on and if necessary tweak the selected idea further. Request input from the entire team.
During the next few days, talk about the brainstorming and consensus experiences with the staff. Gather feedback about what worked and what could be done to further improve the session's effectiveness. What went well? What could have gone better?
Evaluate how brainstorming and consensus compare with the team's normal ways of generating ideas and reaching decisions. List the pros and cons.
Evaluate other ways the team may want to utilize either or both processes. Then document and apply all findings.
High Risk/High Reward
Team building training and activities are in high demand because of the dramatic results of real or high-performance teams. However, attempting to act as a team can be risky! And even if successful, the short-term results may be minimal.
Any existing and reasonably effective working group should remain working as is and NOT work as a team if:
There are doubts about the group's willingness to take risks and hold themselves mutually accountable for the overall team results.
There is insufficient organizational support.
Quick results are a priority. However, if the commitment and organizational support exist and the group is willing and able to prevail over the long haul, the results can be phenomenal and the sense of personal fulfillment experienced by team members is unrivaled.
More on Teamwork and Team Building
Teamwork is a set of principles and skills unto itself. A more comprehensive evaluation of this topic would include the stages of team development, common problems with teams (and what to do about them), team-building activities, and so on. There are countless books available about team building. Anyone interested in pursuing learning more about teams should start by reading "The Wisdom of Teams" by Katzenbach and Smith.
By teaching essential team skills and processes, facilitating interpersonal bonding and trust, providing guidance through the stages of team development, and coaching how to handle common problems, an experienced team leader can help ensure that a potential team successfully transitions to a real team. And if that extra personal commitment among the team members exists, or can be ignited, they may even become a high-performance team.
In conclusion, managers must stride to maintain optimum staff contributions continuously. In order to achieve such results, managers: 1) must be have the skills to diagnose staff problems that may interfere with productivity, 2) must provide appropriate coaching as needed, 3) should mentor any good employees that want to take on additional responsibilities, and 4) should become familiar with essential team skills and processes that could be used to further optimize results. By applying the techniques presented in this article, managers will automatically begin to make progress towards achieving maximum staff contributions.
Written by Michael Grace
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