The Performance Discussion (Get Your Employees to Initiate It!)

Periodically discuss with employees being more reciprocal when it comes to performance evaluations. Sure, you hate doing performance reviews, but it unlikely you will ignore an employee who requesting one. You won't to get caught not doing your job, right? But there is also much to be gained.

Being happy on the job and engaged, productive, and feeling “at one” with your supervisor is about as good as it gets. One more thing will make it perfect—no surprises at your annual review. Plan upstream to prevent this problem by having a conversation about your performance. The “performance conversation” is about getting feedback on how well you’re doing your job, but you don’t have to wait for your supervisor to initiate it. It can start with you. If you’re beginning to feel unsure about your performance and a little detached and can’t say for certain what your supervisor thinks about how you’re doing, you’re overdue for a performance conversation appointment. Don’t forget to discuss when the next one will be.

No Performance Evaluation Program?

Don't believe the absolute tripe these days about how we should scrap performance evaluations programs and procedures. I laughed looking at LinkedIn the other day where someone decided to post a comment that performance evaluations don't work because they replicated the Master/Slave model. Is this guy serious? If you do not have a performance evaluation program, you have only one thing going for you to manage quality of work, attendance, quantity of work, attitude, conduct, behavioral issues, and availability. Guess what than one thing is? .... your personality and whatever relationship you hold on to with your employee. I've seen this before in many companies where where there were good performance evaluation systems, but management didn't enforce accountability for supervisors doing them. Hence, by default, the relationship with supervisor took over. The result--problems. Anger, conflicts, manipulation, low productivity, theft, "getting back", time theft, and violence in the workplace. Do you realize that a lack of performance evaluation process can lead to death. Don't think so? Absolutely it can in the right circumstances, a dysfunctional relationship with the supervisor can lead to conflicts, unfair treatment, personality clashes, and homicide. I will be talking with you about a marvelous performance evaluation system soon, the one I designed for Arlington County Public School System Trades Department. It's easy, collaborative (key concept), fun, workable, scalable, and no surprises ever pop up on the employees review day. Training supervisors in performance evaluation is easy, and I will show you how to do it.

Training Supervisors: Risk and Supervisors Ignoring Performance Evaluations

Supervisor skills include understanding performance reviews and performance evaluations. If you have been ignoring performance evaluations year to year and your organization does not have a procedure for conducting performance evaluations of employees and making sure they happen, you risk a host of major problems beyond a irritated employee who may complain quietly to friends that they haven had a performance evaluation in years. Here's the point: If you do not conduct performance evaluations, you have only one thing to control the productivity of the worker -- your relationship. This model is fraught with issues and problems, and it can lead to conduct that can even culminate in workplace violence or homicide at work. Don't snicker. It's time to get supervisors evaluating performance again. Stay tuned for a complete course for $695 that you can upload to your internal website or show in a powerpoint presentation, and you'll train supervisors in 20 minutes. Back in a few days.

Be Gingerly with Returning Troops from Overseas? - NO WAY!

I had a supervisor ask me recently about the mental state of his employees who had returned from overseas and who had also been in action. He pondered about how lenient he should be with these employees. Oh, my! he asked, don’t they deserve a break because of their stress and more leniency from us supervisors when performance problems arise?

Folks, ask any returning troops this question, and they will freak out. Do think the doh boys of WWII got treated with kit gloves. Hell no. They came home and raised five kids and ran boy scout troops. Let's stop treating Vets like every one of them is about to shoot up the Post Office. Sure, absolutely, some have PTSD, but let them tell you that they need accommondations first. Listen, it's natural to weigh the circumstances of your employees and want to be lenient as a way of accommodating them. However, unless a specific request is made for a reasonable accommodation, it is generally better to treat employees equally and all as fully capable. Do not assume these employees require different standards for how their performance should be judged. Many employees experience performance problems attributable to traumas and personal issues. Although the stress of war and its toll on the psyche is extraordinary, your employees will benefit most by being held to the same performance evaluation standards and work rules as other employees. Most soldiers returning from overs as will tell you they want to be treated no differently than their peers. Remember not to make assumptions or diagnostic conclusions about your employees.

Reducing Tension During Verbal Warning Interviews

As a new supervisor, when you meet with employees to do verbal warnings corrective interview, you are going to be tense, lose track of your points sometimes, or simply become overwhelmed with the fear associated with confrontation depending on its nature. It happens. You are not alone. Very few people in supervisory positions would say they look forward to such meetings. And what supervisory training for new supervisors ever includes such skill development? Indeed, these meetings go with the territory when it comes to the supervisor's role. Try these steps to make approaching such a task easier:

1. Plan your meeting with the employee ahead of time, if possible.

2. Write out a list of the concerns that you will address and review them in advance with your supervisor. Get your supervisor's support and input prior to your meeting.

3. Meet with the employee in your office (on your turf). Discuss the listed concerns and allow the employee to respond.

4. Do not argue with your employee. Try to remain emotionally detached by seeing the goal of your meeting as helping the employee understand the relationship between unacceptable behavior and its possible consequences.

5. If the employee remains argumentative or will not listen, end your meeting with plans to meet again soon.

6. Contract with the employee for desired changes.