Managers: Communicating Expectations and Aligning Performance Goals to Achieve Exceptional Results

By: Greg Jerralds (www.ProfitInnerCircle.com)

Managers are expected to play a significant role in the success of each team member’s performance. In addition to performing the four primary management functions (planning, organizing, directing, and controlling), managers are responsible for establishing the right performance measurements and tools as well as communicating clear goals and expectations to their team members. When managers perform their role well, so do their team members.

Make no mistake…managers must do more than simply communicate what they expect. The performance measurements and expectations they provide must not only align with the company’s business strategy, but also lead to desired outcomes. Failure in this area can be extremely counter-productive to the overall success of the business.

Neglecting to provide clear goals and expectations timely, or at all, generally places team members at a significant disadvantage. This often causes team members to fall short of meeting the established goals. Remember, when the proper performance measurements are not in place, and team members don’t know what is expected of them to achieve success, the business will certainly struggle to achieve its full profit potential.

Communication and Reinforcement

Performance expectations should be communicated to team members as early in the new hire orientation process as possible, and then be continuously reinforced throughout their employment. In fact, the sooner team members learn what is expected of their performance, the sooner they will begin performing to meet, or in the case of your top performer, exceed expectations. Continuous reinforcement should occur in the form of ongoing follow-up discussions, one-on-one communication sessions, employee coaching, and ongoing development initiatives.

Providing ongoing coaching and development should not be limited to newly hired team members. As team members gain more tenure and experience, managers should adjust their performance goals accordingly: goals should be challenging, yet attainable. When expectations are clearly communicated, and team members feel supported by their manager, they generally perform with greater enthusiasm and drive.

Ownership and Accountability

A word of caution… managers should never present performance goals as “handed down by senior management.” Employees often see those goals as unrealistic, out of touch with reality, and impossible to achieve. Even if the goals are a mandate from the “top,” the goal setting and administration process is much more effective when the team members feel involved in the process.

Allow your team members to contribute to the goal setting process, when possible. Simply encouraging their involvement, even in the slightest capacity (e.g., designing the goal attainment tracking form), generally increases their level of commitment, and tends to lead to a higher level of employee ownership, accountability and performance. Remember, it’s not managers who complete the tasks needed to achieve the goals; it’s the team members who work for them.

Once goals are clearly defined and communicated, it is vital for managers to develop the tools needed to accurately measure and track each employee’s performance. Openly posting performance results and periodically meeting with team members to review their individual progress is a key step in achieving and sustaining desired results.

Motivation and Recognition

Once the right performance measurements and tools are in place and performance expectations clearly defined and communicated, the manager’s next task is to ensure the team members are productive. One way to keep team members performing at optimal levels is to implement a rewards and recognition program. This will help to motivate employees as well as insure top performing team members receive the recognition they have earned. And, for your top performing team members who may have mastered their job functions, managers should recognize them by finding new tasks and assignments to further expand their knowledge, skills and abilities.

Recognition comes in many forms: monetary, such as spot and period bonuses; opportunities for growth and exposure, such as assisting with special projects or assignments; and greater responsibilities, such as acting team leader or supervisor. Whichever combination you decide, be sure that every team member understands the relationship between exceptional performance and being rewarded and recognized for achieving it.

7 Quick Reference Steps

Here are seven quick reference steps to help managers lead their teams to achieve exceptional performance results:

1. Establish a strategic alliance with your human resources managers.
Managers must begin to recognize their HR managers as strategic partners, and then begin to leverage that relationship to overcome barriers, ensure consistency, and further develop employees’ core competencies. HR can help to insure your department goals and expectations are in line with your company’s business strategy.

2. Align your performance goals with your company’s business strategy.
When goals are not properly aligned, it places significant risk on the company, particularly when employees are focusing on and achieving department goals that are in direct conflict with the company’s overall strategic direction. This increases your risk of losing customers and employees and it also negatively impacts your profitability.

3. Increase your level of effective communication and collaboration.
Rather than retain vital information, managers should share it with those who need it most, their team members. When employees are robbed of the critical information they need to perform their job, they become unsure of the company’s direction, purpose, and most importantly, how their personal successes and failures impact the company’s ability to make a profit.

4. Provide continuous employee coaching and development.
Far too often, managers avoid providing their team members with ongoing coaching and development. This probably is the most common of the five areas, and the most detrimental to any company’s ability to be competitive, improve customer satisfaction and increase profitability.

5. Empower your team members to perform their job.
Provide your team members with the tools, information, direction and support they need to get the job done. Reward and recognize positive performance, and provide ongoing coaching to correct and improve performance.

6. Provide an open forum for two-way communication.
Create and maintain an environment of trust and open communication by encouraging your team members to share feedback, make recommendations for improvement, etc. If you really want to know how you department is doing, or how your customers feel about your company, simply ask your employees.

7. Regularly validate your performance measurements.
Managers often get comfortable with the status quo. As a result, they fail to challenge current performance measurements to ensure their goals and metrics are properly aligned with the corporate strategy.

© 2009 ProfitInnerCircle.com - All World Rights Reserved

AUTHOR

Greg Jerralds is with Profit InnerCircle.com. He is the author of the book, “The Leader’s Guide to Performance Management” and co-author of “The Best Kept Profit Secret.”

Greg is available for media interviews, speaking engagements, on-site training/consultations, and teleseminars/webinars. He can be reached at 210.497.1948 ext. 102.



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© 2008 ProfitInnerCircle.com - All World Rights Reserved