Good management goes a long way in creating productive and engaging company culture. A recent Gallup study found that managers influence employee engagement and performance more than any other factor: 70 percent of engagement variance can be determined solely by the way a manager leads their team.
And good management involves more than encouragement and team building. Managers are responsible for working with struggling employees to turn their performance around. This work requires both intentional strategies and empathetic care.
Built In Colorado sat down with Hugh Boyle, vice president of operations for Travelers Haven, to hear his tried-and-true tips for engaging employees in productive turnaround strategies. Boyle says that the most important thing for managers to keep in mind is that having the conversation, even if it’s uncomfortable, is better than letting problems linger.
“Be human and allow for awkwardness,” he told us.
From setting SMART goals to forging partnerships so that conversations become “us against the problem” instead of “me against you,” these tips are sure to lead to more empathetic management —which breeds increased engagement and productivity.
Travelers Haven is a housing firm that finds solutions for America’s new nomadic workforce.
Give us a sense of your experience with helping direct reports turn performance around. What role does empathy play?
In my experience, most performance issues arise from undefined key performance indicators that associates either don't have direct control over or aren’t sure how they can influence. We’ve all been there.
A great question to lead with is “How do you know you’ve had a good workday?” Any hesitance or uncertainty opens up the opportunity to begin establishing SMART— specific, measurable, achievable, relevant time-based goals.
A great question to lead with is “How do you know you've had a good work day?”
What advice do you have for newer managers who aren't sure how to tackle the topic of performance with their direct reports?
Don’t worry about having the perfect conversation. It’s more important to address issues ASAP than to let them fester and affect the rest of the organization.
What mistakes should newer managers avoid when talking about performance with a direct report?
We frequently let performance management conversations take a “you against me” tone. This ends up closing both the employee — trying to protect themselves —and the manager — overly anticipating excuses —off to empathy, leaving them unable to see the issue from the perspective of the other.
A much better approach is creating an environment of “us against the problem,” where both parties recognize that their success depends on trust and mutually working towards the goal.
