Let's say you have the following three direct subordinates:
Cindy always performs well, rarely seeks your help, and often volunteers to work on many new projects. There is no doubt that she is a "superior employee" that every leader likes, although her attitude towards other colleagues may be bad and contemptuous.
Ed is a delightful subordinate who is competent in the job he does. His work attitude is that "the work done every day is commensurate with the remuneration received", and he leaves work on time at 5 p.m. every day.
Sam is a lovely employee and is well-liked in the workplace, but sometimes things go wrong at work. He works late every night and takes his work home on weekends. However, even so, his performance is only secondary.
As a leader, how do you coach Cindy, Ed, and Sam? Should you give them just as much time? How should the focus be different for each person?
It may sound unfair, but you really can't coach everyone in the same way. You need to make a choice – it's worth it to put the effort into the part that will be rewarding.
Star employees
We tend to think that it's best not to interfere with Type A employees like Cindy. They already control the areas they are responsible for, and they don't mess things up, so as managers, it's good to keep a distance from them.
In fact, this is not true. You should spend more coaching time on star employees. Because the dedication to them can bring you the greatest achievements.
Plus, these employees will need more support than you might think. Steven Berglas, an executive coach, notes in "How to Keep a Players Productive, Harvard Business Review, September 2006" that star employees ", despite their outward appearance as smug, smug, and even wild-tongued," are often insecure and need to be praised and nurtured.
When you coach a-level employee, counteract their insecurities with affirmations. Try these excerpts from The Glyss article:
Praise frequently and sincerely. Often, it's easy for celebrity employees to tell whether a compliment is a cliché or an empty, meaningless one. When you praise them, focus on their own most cherished skills and strengths. For example, if a direct report says he has achieved a very profitable sales performance, sincere congratulations should be given. If your subordinates are recognized by the outside world and have won a big customer, then you need to share the matter with everyone at the department meeting, or send a group email to let everyone know.
Exercise appropriate controls. To let Class A employees act autonomously, they will constantly raise their standards. But over time, they push themselves into an unsustainable dimension of performance. So be like the chief executive in charge of the engine: control their expectations. One way to achieve this goal is to communicate your concerns with them. These star employees are a group of people who are concerned about themselves, so they will be receptive when you communicate directly with them about their own development.
Give ample room to play. Tier A employees tend to be overly judgmental towards their colleagues. Unless you explicitly hold them accountable for their collaboration and team, they may create interpersonal confusion that offsets their level of contribution. Sometimes, celebrity employees show irritation at team members for not behaving according to standards, or put on a dismissive look when asked to help a colleague. When it comes to giving constructive feedback to A-level employees, target their behavior, not their individuals (overuse of statements like "you" can provoke a defensive mindset). State in detail and specifically the impact of their actions on team performance. It's something they'll care about.
Some star employees can be hard to accept. It's tempting to lower their positions by one or two levels when they start working, but resist the urge to do so. If you allow star employees to enjoy their achievements, you'll get more success from them, and less frustration.
Stable employees
If the A-class employee is your lead singer and guitarist, then the B-employee Ed mentioned in the previous case is your drummer and bass player. They are obviously not the number one players in the organization, but they bring everything together in the organization. Class B employees account for a large share of the workforce, with some statistics showing that it is around 75% to 80%. And they do their job dutifully and in a low-key manner.
Still, they need your attention too. The following strategies can help you coach them efficiently based on the insights of Thomas J. Delong and vineeta Vijayaraghavan, "Let's hear it for b players" (Harvard Business Review, June 2003).
Don't force it to change. Some managers believe that efforts should be made to promote B-level employees to A-level employees. While this is intuitively appealing, it's not your best investment in time for a number of reasons. Many B-level employees have reached the limits of their abilities. Some have made informed life choices to capture the largest share of the performance curve because they are gradually ending their careers or seeking work-life balance. Only a small percentage of them have the potential of A-level employees, but most are deeply rooted in Grade B.
However, these people can still bring great value. They tend to be people of open integrity and offer insights that others don't want to share. They are also not inclined to leave their jobs, so that they do not cause losses to the organization.
Recognize and reward. While they don't receive (or expect) the same material rewards or promotions as Tier A employees, B employees aspire to be equally affirmed. If a B-level employee puts in extra effort to deal with customer complaints, affirm him and express his affirmation in a way that the employee likes. Some employees prefer face-to-face, while others prefer public praise.
Provide more opportunities for development. B-level employees may not expect to grow and develop as quickly as A-level employees do, but they also don't want to stagnate. You need to provide them with more opportunities to develop in their comfort zone. For example, training that helps them to enhance their strengths, arranging for them to attend meetings and seminars of interest to them, allowing them to provide guidance to junior staff and soliciting their views on decision-making, etc. There's a lot that b-level employees can offer the company, but you have to carve out a relatively easy channel for them.
Incompetent employees
Supervisors tend to spend most of their time on less capable employees, such as Sam, but this is bound to be a loss-making project.
When we talk about C-level employees, we're not talking about employees or new hires who are adjusting themselves to the organization, we're talking about employees who could have performed better but didn't. Over time, they no longer play to their strengths, gradually slow down the entire team, and sometimes even have a negative impact on the work attitude of colleagues. In addition, C-level employees often occupy certain positions to a certain extent, hindering the development of excellent employees.
So, what to do with them? In "A New Game Plan for C Players, Harvard Business Review, January 2002," co-authored by Beth Axelrod, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Ed Michaels, They offer a tough but respectable approach: give underperforming employees a chance to redeem themselves, but set company expectations to overcome procrastination and rationalize everything. Here's how:
Develop a clear improvement plan. Employees cannot make progress in a vacuum. Their improvement requires your guidance, help and advancement. You have to set specific goals for them, as well as a clear end point. If a C-level employee doesn't meet the agreed standards within a specific period of time, you want to help them "leave" with dignity. Keep track of their progress or missing factors so you don't get caught off guard by their failure to meet their goals or get involved in HR or legal disputes.
Give honest, real-time feedback. Providing critical feedback can be difficult, but there's really no benefit to your reservations to C-level employees. They need to know if they are making progress, how they are making progress, and where they are still falling short.
Provide a supportive network. Don't spend a lot of time coaching C-level employees, but don't leave them alone. You can rely on existing training programs or outsource to find colleagues for C-level employees who can work with each other.
This is a coaching method for employees like Sam. If he never makes progress, don't let him stay in this position, no matter how kind he is and how hard he tries. The amount of time you give him depends on the nature of his work, as well as his ability and determination. In most cases, you'll know within a few months whether investing will lead to new progress.
In short, you have to be responsive and responsive to employees like Sam. You'll have to leave more time to employees like Cindy and Ed, and the company as a whole. This will focus on the areas where you can succeed.
Jimmy Grinnell | text
Jimmy Greenell is an associate professor at Murray Mac College in North Andover, Massachusetts. His consulting firm, Grindell Consulting, focuses primarily on corporate leadership and organizational change developments.
Translated | by Shi Qingjing
Harvard Business Review Leadership
Editor | Zhou Qiang [email protected]
Public account id: hbrchinese
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