Self Leadership Coaching Blog

Managers and leaders are ultimately responsible for the results that they achieve through people, it is therefore essential that they understand the principles involved in raising the performance of their people and teams.

The formula in the above diagram that brings the essential components into focus and causes us to realise that if; expectations, ability or attitude are at zero then results will be too.

The first key to performance and results is to set expectations and it my experience that this is an area that can usually be improved. Most managers know about SMART goals:

Specific: And clear enough for employees to carry out the task.

Measurable: By quality, quantity, cost or timeliness.

Achievable: Within the influence control, capacity, knowledge, skills and authority of the employees.

Realistic: In terms of ability, the goal must also be relevant to the individual, team and organisation.

Time Bound: Must include specific timeline for achievement.

Even with this knowledge only about 20% of managers set SMART Goals for their direct reports. A common misconception is that goals must be numeric but they can be behavioural and qualitative providing clear expectations are set; for example if you want one of your managers to listen more to internal stakeholders the goal might be:

“Can we agree that you will improve your listening skills in stakeholder meetings (S) and that we would know this has occurred when you are speaking less than 50% of the time and can accurately articulate their needs, wants and drivers to me at the end of the meeting (M). To do this is up to you and you can role model how I have done this at previous meetings (A). Achieving this will not only be of benefit to our relationship with stakeholders but will position you to take on more responsibility in the future (R). Can we agree that you will have achieved this by our next review meeting in two months? (T)”

Setting expectations that stretch the employee coupled with a belief that they can achieve these goals creates a ‘Pygmalion Effect.’ The Pygmalion effect is phenomena in which the greater the expectation that is placed on the individual the better they perform. Most people have experienced this effect when a teacher or lecturer believed in them more than they believed in themselves; the result was that they excelled in that topic (see the graphic).

If an employee lacks the ability to do the task then it shouldn’t have been delegated to them until they have received sufficient on-the-job or classroom training to be able to perform to the required standard.

Attitude can be a more challenging problem to solve as it requires the skills to uncover what the employee really values and align this to the company’s values and vision (to be addressed in a future post). Herzberg listed the common de-motivators (hygiene factor) as poor working conditions, insufficient pay and benefits, boredom or poor relationship with supervisor. Jack Welch said, “People join good companies, but leave bad managers.”

When an employee has a bad attitude we must enquire what is important to them and check that the hygiene factors are addressed. Often we need to look in the mirror because the reason for their poor attitude is there relationship with us.

In summary performance in individuals or teams can usually be increased 20 to 30% by addressing the factors of expectation, ability and attitude. Can you afford not to make the change?