How do leaders inspire top performance in their employees? How do they generate enthusiasm, passion and true employee engagement in achieving and exceeding organizational goals?
A starting point is for leaders to create clarity and alignment around organizational goals and objectives. This begins with each employee having a clear understanding of his/her job responsibilities. Research reveals that less than 50% of employees claim that they know what is expected of them at work. Clarity is the antidote to employee anxiety and therefore clarity is a key priority for the effective leader. Once clarity is established throughout the organization the next priority is to ensure that all leaders provide their employees timely performance feedback, not just annually. This should be relevant, accurate, specific and easy to understand.
Action Steps for providing effective Feedback:
- Establish clear performance expectations.
- Foster a climate that encourages feedback and establishes trust.
- Develop a format for delivering feedback e.g.
1) What worked well and why;
2) What didn’t work well and why;
3) What should be done More/Better or Different.
- Be very specific with examples of employee performance.
- Provide feedback often and search for positive examples.
- Don’t shy away from constructive criticism; always address poor performance and/or opportunities for improvement. Some leaders have a tendency to avoid confrontation which doesn’t benefit the individual or the organization.
- Identify specific employee behavior that can improve performance.
Message from
TLG Managing Director
Thoughtful, clear, constructive feedback is one of the greatest gifts a leader can give to his/her co-workers, employees, and sometimes, the boss. Feedback can change behavior or motivate and/or recognize outstanding performance. The article on this page provides ideas on how to maximize the power of feedback.
Joan Hanpeter
The Leadership Group provides coaching to assist leaders in enhancing employee engagement through assessments and effective implementation of employee feedback that results in improved organizational performance.