One of the most mentioned excuses when I am delivering a program on performance or competency assessement - and say that a manager should be meeting all their employees frequently (at least on a monthly basis) to give feedback on their performance - is that "all employees? Monthly? We don't have the time to do that!"
If that is what you say too - then you're doing your employees -and yourself- a disservice.
As a manager the most important part of the role is leading people. Take a look at this CCL research on leadership, for example[pdf file] that shows that the most important skill for leadership is people related.
If that is the case - and reflect on the best managers you have worked with - people management and feedback sessions are not just nice to do, but critical
They need to be given as much priority as budgeting meetings or strategic planning meetings.
The sad part is that while people pay lip service to this - they willingly compromise on the time and effort people management takes.
It shows that while in words it is said, when it comes to deeds people don't really believe it.
No wonder that most people don't trust their managers - and this distrustful behavior gives rise to a vicious spiral - which shows no signs of being broken.
Or as a colleague used to say to me - "Not finding time to do something is an euphemism for saying - I don't think it's worth jacks**t to do that"
Absolutely, Gautam. Lack of feedback would make me like a headless chicken. Progress "conversations" is a much under-utilized tool in a people manager's toolkit and managers really need to be made accountable for it.
ReplyDeleteYes Gautam you truth about ...while people pay lip service to this - they willingly compromise on the time and effort people management takes.
ReplyDeleteAgree. With the war for talent, I believe sooner or later more managers will begin to be evaluated on staff retention and employee engagement, though. Then they'll find out it's worth re-prioritizing and making time to meet with their staff regularly...
ReplyDeleteA.
www.newpeoplemanagement.wordpress.com
Absolutely. But here's my gripe. How come these managers are allowed to not give feedback? Don't they have managers holding them accountable for 'people management' Well often the answer is no. I've worked with hundreds of managers and very few of those have told me that they have performance agreements / objectives etc related to people management. Why would a manager spend time on an activity for which they are not held accountable for and for which, presumably, there is no reward? It all starts at the top - or should do
ReplyDeleteHi Goutham,
ReplyDeleteyaa what you say is right. When I do Performance Management Workshops for my supervisors and Managers and tell the importance of Performance Feedback, i also face the same answer – “We don’t have time “, I 'm talking about the quarterly feedback. Then explained them the Working Relation time with their Team Members is - 8*26*3 = 624 ( The no of hours they work together ) and then i asked them don’t you think your team members don’t deserve 1 hour of your focused time to understand how they are doing, where they are doing good and where they have to improve & other things. Then I will get some positive response. Then I generate a discussion about their best Performance feedback session and worst feedback session, that will bring a lot of insight.
I feel HR have to spend time and energy to bring these systems to the company
Shiva