Enigma #2

As a busy manager and business leader, how do you make time to coach and develop your employees and direct reports? How do you find time to meet with them and discuss their progress on yearly goals? How do you know that your employee’s actions will directly (and positively) impact the initiatives that have been outlined in the strategic plan? How do you even you know if they’re engaged with the strategic plan?

Many of us intuitively know that we need to meet with employees from time to time to provide real coaching and receive feedback. We also know we should eat less if we want to shed extra pounds; yet, we are a nation of obese people. So much for the power of knowing . . . I have found with our clients that many of these recommended monthly or quarterly coaching meetings just never happen. While meetings may occur, they tend to be more about fire fighting and problem solving. Granted, these types of meetings are required to keep a company viable, I have witnessed organizations in which employees never get any type of formal coaching or feedback around their performance. .

Here’s what you, as a manager and leader, need to understand: no feedback equals no performance improvement. How does the baby go from crawling to walking? As the baby engages in walking, the floor gives feedback: thud—not that way. Thud—not that way. Oh—now you have it. (Notice no thud.) Older kids master the bike or skateboard or rollerblades through the same process of feedback; eventually, they end up doing more tricks and falling less often. Are you making the connection here? Humans learn, grow, and develop through failing and feedback. It’s part of the process.

One senior manager proudly told me that in 20 years, he had never been reviewed. None of his bosses had ever made the time to sit down with him and talk about what he spends his work life doing. Though this executive took it as a compliment, it is sad. His work matters and he does some things amazingly well and other things not so well. Feedback would allow him to grow and develop.

In another organization I worked with, people were—at best—reviewed once a year for salary and bonus-setting purposes. There was no formal feedback process. This is absolutely unsettling. In the same company, managers bemoaned that they should be coaching and talking with employees about their performance, but they never got around to it. This is even more unsettling. Yet, This is the norm in many organizations, and it does not have to be. For this to change, development and training need to be viewed as equally important as fighting fires. (There is more on this in the chapter “The Coach’s Handbook.”) If these things matter to the organization, managers will make time for coaching and feedback. It’s a simple, sobering fact: we do what truly matters to us.

Now, assuming development and training do matter to your organization (as they should), Execution management calls for four to six progress meetings a year. If there are no meetings, you have no execution management. Keynelink, the software my company uses, supports this system by scheduling and confirming meetings. If meetings are not finalized, managers are notified through email. Voila—you have structure. While not a guarantee, it helps busy managers and employees to have this kind of automatic support.

For more information about KeyneLink, click here.