Management

Tips for managers to providing Employee performance feedback

Organization can lighten the load of being the heavy.

By Jen Perlich, St. Paul, Minn.

Managers must learn to juggle; at least, metaphorically. When supervising their teams, managers juggle a variety of responsibilities including patient care, clinical concerns and employee success. All of these responsibilities are impacted negatively when an employee underperforms. The responsibility for dealing with an underperforming employee, once again, falls on the manager. This is one of the most challenging aspects of management. Managers must be proactive when working with employees who need additional guidance. When employee performance issues are not addressed, employee problems tend to worsen and impact the rest of the team.

Prevention

Remember the old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Instead of correcting employee performance problems, try to foster a work environment wherein employees have a full understanding of what’s expected of them. This management style can help prevent underperformance issues. To implement this ounce of prevention, work to:

■ Provide consistent feedback by celebrating achievements, discussing corrections and requiring accountability.

■ Provide feedback in a calm, respectful manner, in the same spirit they would like to receive feedback about their management style.

■ Give employees an opportunity to get better by sharing with them individually aspects of performance that need to be improved.

Preparations

If the time comes to discuss a performance issue with an employee, a manager must prepare to address it by fully understanding the problem and how it relates to the practice. Consider the following:

■ Understand performance issues can come in two categories:

• Job skills and abilities – Whether or not the employee can perform the job

• Job attitudes – Whether or not the employee’s performance displays teamwork and aligns with practice culture

■ Prepare for the specific conversation in advance. Write down a few notes to help keep the meeting focused and on track. Refer to the notes as needed.

■ Tailor management style by problem and by employee personality. Everyone is different and responds differently.

■ Review the employee handbook. Managers can provide consistent direction by addressing issues outlined in the employee handbook. Managers can also consult with Human Resources if the employee handbook does not provide specific guidance.

Confronting performance issues

Address performance issues quickly. Following up with an employee shortly after an observation is made allows for a more impactful conversation. Keep these pointers in mind when confronting a performance issue:

■ Start with verbal conversations. Make notes of the discussion for your own reference afterwards, indicating the date, who was part of the meeting, what was discussed, the employee’s response and go-forward expectations. If performance does not improve, notes of verbal conversations will be extremely helpful to illustrate that adequate feedback was provided.

■ Keep the meeting short. Coaching conversations do not need to be lengthy. Get to the point, share the message, ensure the employee understands the expectations and move on.

■ Provide specific examples. Being able to substantiate the reason for the conversation will help illustrate the issue to the employee and help communicate how the employee can change going forward. Examples also provide an opportunity for the employee to share his or her side of the situation.

■ Acknowledge that the conversation is a difficult one or a bit awkward, if warranted. This can be a helpful approach, especially if dealing with personal issues and can help ease an uncomfortable topic of conversation.

■ Be consistent — with the individual employee, within the team, and across situations.

■ Stay on top of it. Do not think that addressing performance issues once resolves them. The employee may hear the message and corrects the behavior. However, if you see the same thing happening again, do not overlook it; address it again.

Focused feedback

Communication is key when faced with handling performance feedback. Managers can make all the difference so take the time to make feedback a priority. In the absence of feedback, employees may act out to get some kind of reaction from the manager. When feedback is focused, employees are more apt to be engaged in their everyday work and feel like the manager values and respects them. OP

Jen Perlich is Director of Human Resources at Minnesota Eye Consultants.