For many managers, end-of-the-year activities include completing employee reviews as part of a performance management system. Giving year-end feedback is something that some managers view as “checking one more thing off the list.” Some employees view the activity as a “necessary evil.” Often, this is a missed opportunity to start the new year with a bang—especially with high performers. In 2011, the high performers did most things very well; yet, managers often feel compelled to give “developmental” feedback. Managers feel they aren’t doing their job if they can’t find something that is less than awesome. As a result, high performers leave the review slightly miffed that the manager documented an obscure area of improvement just to ensure the review wasn’t too glowing.
I am going to suggest a very radical approach to performance reviews for high performers. Focus on all they did well and … end the review. Resist adding the developmental feedback—unless it is actually a critical success factor.
High performers are high performers because they self-analyze and independently seek to improve. Ask them what they would like to improve in 2012, identify how you can help them, and conclude the review without saying anything negative. Discuss personal growth and development in 2012, but frame it from a perspective of what they want to accomplish and not from the often misused perspective of “no one is perfect,” “we don’t want them too big for their britches,” “everyone has the ability to improve,” etc.
While some of those axioms are true for some people, I believe that high performers will appreciate managers identifying how they can help them move in the direction they want to go. Try ending the review with a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and keep up the great work in 2012.
Jennifer Rufatto is a consultant at FlashPoint. She focuses her consulting in the areas of workplace learning and leadership development.
As the business world evolves, development tools evolve to fit the needs of today’s learners. For example, the traditional mentoring relationship with a rigid meeting structure now looks much different, as mentoring occurs virtually and just-in-time. Certainly the traditional mentoring structure is still applicable in some scenarios.
As mentoring has evolved, it is also increasingly confused with other development activities, such as coaching. The challenge with confusing these two disciplines is that when used inappropriately, we miss opportunities to leverage their full potential. Human resources professionals and managers must understand the purpose and desired outcomes for both mentoring and coaching to ensure they are used in the most effective way.
The visual below shows the different focus of mentoring and coaching. Notice that mentoring is more directive—its purpose is knowledge transfer from the mentor to the protégée, so key activities within the mentoring relationship include sharing expertise and offering advice. Coaching is more non-directive, with a focus on eliciting ideas and thoughts from the participant, hence, the focus on asking questions.
I am currently in the midst of a coaching engagement, focused on helping a person transition from individual contributor to leader of a new team within her organization. Specifically, I am coaching her to develop a vision for her team and create a structure that best supports their direction. The essence of the engagement is asking key questions to help her identify what she needs to do; it’s an empowering process. My colleague, Jennifer Rufatto, wrote in a blog about demystifying coaching, “the essence of coaching is helping someone learn to think better.”
Because this manager has the management skills (from previous positions) necessary to lead this group of people, coaching is the most effective development opportunity for her; she is getting what she needs to support her success, and ultimately the organization’s success. Andrea Moore is Senior Consulting Manager at FlashPoint; Andrea focuses on leadership development, training and performance improvement solutions, and one-on-one coaching.
I am often asked for guidance from clients, friends, and colleagues about how best to manage their increasingly heavy workloads. While I certainly don’t have “the answer” to this ongoing challenge, I do have one simple strategy and a mindset that has served me well over the last couple of years in managing all of the activities of my life.
First of all, my philosophy around time management is at the heart of this strategy; my belief is that it’s not the “stuff” of life that creates stress and frustration. It’s how you approach it that creates the feeling of challenge. The “stuff” of life is always neutral; it’s your attitude about it that makes it what it is.
This mindset is incredibly empowering, as it gives you a feeling of control over your life experiences. The reverse is that you allow your calendar and activities to have control which causes a feeling of perpetual frustration and spinning your wheels.
So, what can you do to create a feeling of control? Begin your day in a way that sets a positive tone. By starting the day in a rushed, hurried manner, focused on activities (the news, emails, packing lunches, etc.), you perpetuate the challenge of feeling out of control.
Consider this . . . upon waking, you make your way to a comfortable place in your home. In this comfortable place, you give yourself the gift of silence—allowing thoughts to rise and fall without judgment, paying attention to your breathing, basking in the quiet presence of the morning. In these few minutes (yes, just a few minutes) of quiet reflection, you are renewed and much more prepared to react to the events of your day in a positive way.
What if you did this for just a few minutes each morning before you jumped into the activities? I suspect your results would be similar to mine. By consciously starting my day in a reflective way, I have experienced the following results:
I have little to no stress in my life and much less worry
I feel prepared to handle whatever life has to offer
I am confident about my ability to act in a way that represents my values
I am less reactive and much more thoughtful about the choices I make
I step into the day with a clear mind and an open heart
I carry a relaxed, peaceful feeling with me
You are in the driver’s seat. Between sleep and action, give yourself time to transition and leverage the quiet of the morning as a time for renewal. You and those you influence throughout the day deserve it.
Andrea Moore is a Senior Consulting Manager at FlashPoint; Andrea focuses on leadership development, training and performance improvement solutions, and one-on-one coaching.
A couple weeks ago my wife and I purchased a new car as we needed something a little more “kid friendly.” If you haven’t purchased a car lately, you’re missing the exciting conclusion of every sale—the sales person explaining the survey that you will receive and that if they score less than perfect it is considered a “failure.” Well, my salesperson will likely receive a failure score. Failure not because she approached us as we were still exiting our car or used old school negotiation tactics or because she was working three deals at once (no signs of a weak economy at this dealership)—failure because of a missed opportunity the next day.
Here is the story. Our finance company was closed on Saturday so we didn’t know our exact payoff amount on the old car. I estimated it and told them I could make up the difference. The next day, I received a call from my salesperson who informed me that I was a whopping $66 under the actual payoff and could she come by—today—to pick up a check. I shared with her that I rarely write checks and asked if I could give her cash or my debit card number. She eagerly agreed and, after getting the number, hustled off the phone.
After I hung up I started thinking. The dealership didn’t give me even close to what I wanted for my car, it had leverage on the price of the new car because it’s a hybrid, and gas is $14 per gallon (not really but you get my point)—they can’t just pick up the $66 tab? Really?
When I facilitate customer service training, I always say, “The customer isn’t always right, but they are always the customer.” I have our salesperson’s business card but will I recommend her to any of my friends or colleagues? Probably not. Will I blast her company all over social media sites? No. Do I feel good about my experience overall. Not really. Do we love our new car? Absolutely.
Nordstrom has a loyal following (including me), largely because they give employees the ability to provide excellent customer service. They realize that customers will come back and they will tell their friends.
I won’t buy another car from that dealership or that salesperson. I might be tough but I work hard to provide the best customer service that I can and I want others to do the same for me.
As part of the 2010 Indiana State Human Resources Conference, FlashPoint asked HR professionals across the state to tell us about the innovative HR-related programs they have introduced at their organizations. I had the opportunity to collect these innovative ideas and present them at the conference where attendees were invited to vote for the idea they considered most innovative. While a winner was selected (to be highlighted here soon), FlashPoint thought that all the ideas were deserving of a little more attention. Now I get to share the details of these exciting and innovative programs. My hope is that these “mini case studies” will inspire you and your organization to be innovative!
Innovative idea submitted by: Deb Lang, Director, Training
The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (Midwest ISO) is an essential link in the safe, cost-effective delivery of electric power across all or parts of 13 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. As a Regional Transmission Organization, the Midwest ISO assures consumers of unbiased regional grid management and open access to the transmission facilities under the Midwest ISO’s functional supervision.
The Business Challenge
Joellyn: Can you briefly describe your innovative HR-related program?
Deb: The Midwest ISO regularly sponsors The Leadership Challenge® Workshop, which helps our employees develop their leadership skills. To supplement the content, however, we developed our own Business Challenge component. As part of the Business Challenge, we pull together cross-department and multi-level teams of Leadership Challenge® students to identify a business issue that impacts the entire organization.
Students have one month to work on the issue before presenting their findings and identifying leadership skills used in the process. They deliver their presentations to a panel of executives, who ask questions focused on leadership skills.
Following the presentations, students hand off their recommendations to the appropriate department for potential implementation. Students are required to gather data and discuss the issue with departments impacted by the issue, reducing the “surprise factor” when they receive the final product.
Joellyn: Why did you develop this program? What problem/situation were you hoping to address?
Deb: We implemented the Business Challenge for the following reasons:
Students were having a difficult time identifying how to apply what they learned in a business environment.
Executives expressed interest in being involved in The Leadership Challenge® Workshop, yet we wanted to ensure that their involvement had meaning and demonstrated the value of what students were learning.
We wanted to strengthen cross-departmental relationships and knowledge
Joellyn: Why do you consider it innovative?
Deb: The innovative piece of the program is in leaving the success of the program in the students’ hands. Students are provided with very few parameters for the exercise and the presentation. Because of this freedom, the solutions demonstrate considerable creativity. Linking it to providing an opportunity to present to executives also prompts the students to take the assignment as seriously as they would a major project for their department. The results have been impressive!
Joellyn: What impact have you seen? How did the program address your problem/situation and how has it improved the company and/or the HR function?
Deb: The challenge has resulted in raising awareness of key issues, providing additional support to business areas struggling with some of the challenges identified by students, and providing an impactful way to demonstrate the influence employees can have in shaping the organization. This exercise is also one that executives look forward to participating in.
What idea does this inspire for you and your company? Each month I’ll highlight another HR-related innovative idea. I invite you to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss similar posts.
Joellyn Detjen is marketing manager at FlashPoint and helps tell the company’s story.
Coaching. Yes, you know it is the new management and leadership trend. But what is it? I find that people avoid implementing coaching programs simply because they don’t know what it is or how it can help their organization.
Last month I read Quiet Leadership by David Rock and he described coaching in the simplest way I have ever heard. While discussing his leadership philosophy he notes that what we pay people to do at work has significantly changed in the past 50 years but our leadership style has not changed. Years ago we paid people to DO something; run a machine, work an assembly line, file papers, etc. The command-control style of management was very effective for workers who, essentially, conducted processes. Today we have found ways to automate or outsource most processes—now we pay people to think. Yet, the dominate management style has stayed command-control. If the nature of what we ask employees to do has changed from conducting a process to thinking, doesn’t it make sense to change our management style?
Rock suggests that if we pay employees to think, then managers and leaders should help employees learn to think better. That is the essence of coaching. Coaching is helping someone learn to think better.
Consider this example which demonstrates the difference between the two management styles.
Managing the Process
Employee: I have a customer who is irate that we charged shipping even though the product was three days late. What should I do?
Manager: Was it our fault the product was late?
Employee: Yes, we ran out in the warehouse.
Manager: Then credit the shipping and offer a 10% discount on the next order.
Helping the Thinking
Employee: I have a customer who is irate that we charged shipping even though the product was three days late. What should I do?
Manager: Sarah, you have good instincts about customer service. What do you think?
Employee: It was our fault since we ran out of the product, but the customer knew when they placed the order we were backordered. I don’t know.
Manager: If you were the customer what would you want the company to do?
Employee: I would want the free shipping, but I wouldn’t expect them to give it to me.
Manager: What would you think about the company if they did give you free shipping?
Employee: I would be impressed they went above and beyond. Our mission is to exceed the customer’s expectations and that would do it!
The manager took 60 more seconds so the employee could learn how to think instead of how to do. Next time the employee is in a similar situation she will have the confidence to handle the issue and will take ownership over the solution.
See, this coaching thing isn’t so complicated. Take time to help people think better and you are coaching!
Try it out and let me know how it works for you.
Jennifer Rufatto is a consultant at FlashPoint. She focuses her consulting in the areas of workplace learning, leadership development, and strategic planning.
“On the other side of right thinking and wrong thinking there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”—Rumi
During a section of a recent leadership development training session which I facilitated, participants were exploring the impact of their personal style on the way in which they deliver feedback. Participants were tasked with reviewing their unique areas for improvement (based on their style) and identifying what they could do differently to be more effective. Suddenly, a participant raised his hand and asked, “How can the overuse of praise be ineffective when giving feedback?” After a brief group conversation, I suggested to the questioner that when the same type of praise, said in the same way, such as “thank you,” is used repeatedly, it may lose its significance and meaning. As the questioner nodded in agreement, I added that because of his natural style, he might want to be more specific in the feedback that he provides to employees. Nodding in agreement once again, he said, “So, I should say, ‘thank you, s—head.’”
Fortunately, his response was very funny to others in the group, and his colleagues erupted in laughter. In that moment, I was so glad to be laughing along with everyone else in the room, because I didn’t really know how else to respond to his sarcasm. When the laughter subsided, the questioner became much more serious and shared a couple of ideas for how he could be more specific in giving feedback. Being given the space to be sarcastic and funny, he quickly rebounded into what he could do to improve his effectiveness as a manager.
This experience reminded me of the important message in the Rumi quote above. In the facilitation of leadership development, there is no right and wrong. My role as the facilitator is to create a safe place for learning to occur. Who am I to say what will work for someone? I do not walk in the shoes of any participant; the participant must come to the perspective that works best for him or her. I can certainly share my personal experiences and what I have seen work for other leaders, but never can I credibly give the participant advice on what he or she should do.
As a facilitator, focused on development, I am meeting the participants on the field beyond right thinking and wrong thinking, for this is a safe place for growth to happen.
Andrea Moore is a senior consulting manager at FlashPoint; Andrea focuses on leadership development, training and performance improvement solutions, and one-on-one coaching.
Within our leadership development initiatives and coaching projects, we spend time helping participants to reframe and get unstuck. The message is always the same . . . rather than spending time complaining about the current situation or wishing it were something different, empower yourself to move forward with positive action. The five questions noted below work like magic . . . they shift your mindset from one of victim to victor over the current situation.
1. What do you want?
In other words, what is your vision? Use your imagination and push yourself to think beyond what is to what could be. If you want something different, you have to focus on what it is you want, not where you are right now.
2. What are you learning?
Those situations that challenge you the most truly do provide the greatest opportunity to learn something about yourself. Through the recognition of growth within the situation, the challenge suddenly becomes more meaningful and you are provided with greater confidence to move forward.
3. What support is available to you?
You are not alone. Regardless of how isolated you may feel, there is always support if you are willing to open your eyes and ask for it.
4. What’s working well?
Be gentle with yourself and remember that you are doing the best you can with what you have where you are. Give yourself credit for the progress you have made, and continually look for ways to leverage your strengths.
5. What can you do to influence the situation?
Given your answers to all of the previous questions, you are ready to take action. While there will certainly be things that are not possible for you, there is always something you can do. Continue to focus on where it is you can influence the situation (regardless of how small the action may be) and watch your vision come to life.
For many managers, end-of-the-year activities include completing employee reviews as part of a performance management system. Giving year-end feedback is something that some managers view as “checking one more thing off the list.” Some employees view the activity as a “necessary evil.” Often, this is a missed opportunity to start the new year with a bang—especially with high performers. In 2011, the high performers did most things very well; yet, managers often feel compelled to give “developmental” feedback. Managers feel they aren’t doing their job if they can’t find something that is less than awesome. As a result, high performers leave the review slightly miffed that the manager documented an obscure area of improvement just to ensure the review wasn’t too glowing.
I am often asked for guidance from clients, friends, and colleagues about how best to manage their increasingly heavy workloads. While I certainly don’t have “the answer” to this ongoing challenge, I do have one simple strategy and a mindset that has served me well over the last couple of years in managing all of the activities of my life.
A couple weeks ago my wife and I purchased a new car as we needed something a little more “kid friendly.” If you haven’t purchased a car lately, you’re missing the exciting conclusion of every sale—the sales person explaining the survey that you will receive and that if they score less than perfect it is considered a “failure.” Well, my salesperson will likely receive a failure score. Failure not because she approached us as we were still exiting our car or used old school negotiation tactics or because she was working three deals at once (no signs of a weak economy at this dealership)—failure because of a missed opportunity the next day.
Coaching. Yes, you know it is the new management and leadership trend. But what is it? I find that people avoid implementing 
“On the other side of right thinking and wrong thinking there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”—Rumi
Within our 
