1. Catch people doing things right
Constructive criticism is a myth and an oxymoron. Nobody likes to be criticised and for self-preservation many will erect their esteem barrier as soon as they see it coming. Try this experiment for a week and see what happens. You are only allowed to catch people doing positive things, you must be precise and you cannot use the terms ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It doesn’t even have to be exceptional. For example, you walk past someone talking on the phone and when they have finished you make a point of taking them aside. You say something like “If I was the customer on the other end of that phone I would feel welcome, and comfortable that you have the skill and ability to resolve my issue”. Explain exactly why and leave it at that. Don’t finish with clichés like “keep it up” or “well done” and definitely don’t try and balance the feedback by commenting on a weakness (“yes…but”).
2. Focus on strengths
If you spend all your time trying to improve your weakness then all you are likely to end up with is strong weaknesses. You are the boss and you decide what you are going to do. If you find spreadsheets tedious and time consuming then stop building your own business plans, forecasts and ROI models. There are potential employees coming out of university now that can use spreadsheets ten times quicker than you and at a fraction of your cost. Spend your time on activities for which you have a passion and that only you can do. Instil this in your managers and staff. If someone has a weakness that is core to their job then ‘zoom-out’ and find a way to focus them on their strengths. I once had a salesperson who knew the products backwards, he was smart and asked great questions. Customers loved him and he worked really hard. However, he had a real problem with rejection and when he failed to get an order or was knocked-back by a prospect he was miserable. Being in sales he was miserable a lot. I persuaded him to apply for a product managers job. He was reluctant because the salary was less than his OTE as a salesperson but he accepted the fact that he was unhappy and ended up taking the job. He now runs his own business. Obviously if you have a salesperson that has a problem with rejection and they also are lazy and disorganised, you don’t move them into product management just because they understand the products.
3. Be consistent
It’s important that your staff know how you like to operate and what your values are. A weak manager will often impose their rules on their most receptive employees and let stronger personalities do what they like. I once had a disciplinary referred to me where the employee had received a verbal warning for repeated tardiness. She accepted she had been late but pointed out that others in the same team came and went as they pleased. Her manager’s response was that they were on target and she wasn’t. If he had really thought that getting in at 0900 not 0910 was going to cure her sales problem then this might be justified but obviously there was more to it than that. He had picked on this one behaviour because he was measuring his team only on their results, not on their activity, conversion rates or sales ability. Both salesperson and manager ended up being fired for performance issues. Be consistent in applying your regime and if you realise that something you have been doing has become redundant, be humble enough to stop doing it. At Mercury I would take the whole team out door-knocking every Friday morning. It would be ridiculous to insist upon this nowadays.
4. Hold up a mirror
Employees learn best when they can observe something happening, free from criticism, comment and judgement. Most people come to work to do a good job but watching you do something or being told “what I would have done…” does not usually work. I have watched Roger Federer play tennis many times but it certainly hasn’t improved my game. Get agreement before you start on what success looks like, agree on your measurement points and a comfortable method of feedback. Try this. Video your employee in a ten-minute role-play doing their job. Play it back and ask them only to comment on what they thought went well. They will immediately try and drag you into conversations about what they don’t like – probably because that’s what they think you are really after. Don’t allow this. Focus on the positive behaviours and try and get to why they are working and what is actually happening. Ask the person helping you with the role play how they felt at these moments. By agreeing your terms of reference up front, everyone knows the behaviours that create success. Areas needing improvement will stand out and almost don’t need commenting on by you. If at the end the employee hasn’t mentioned them, ask the question “what would you do differently next time”. If they still don’t mention areas of improvement that you noticed, see if you are able to just close the session without bringing them up yourself.
