The Direct Approach
All too often, managers are reluctant to clearly and concisely communicate concerns they have with their employees’ performance. Some try to sugar coat everything and others just simply stumble and fumble with getting their points across.
Whether it is in an informal meeting to address issues or during a formal review, the importance of being crystal clear and instructive about any performance issues that need addressed cannot be overstated. Trying to avoid hurting an employee’s feelings is not the job of a manager. Certainly care must be taken in how messages are delivered, but failing to be direct and to the point in a constructive manner leads to confusion and can lead to a lack of respect for the manager. Generally speaking, employees would much rather hear exactly what it is they need to improve upon than hear a watered down version.
In order to incrementally improve performance, employees need to have a precise understanding of what is expected of them and the level at which those expectations are being met, being exceeded or not being met. Supporting information, data or documentation is also helpful to employees so that they will feel that the issues being raised aren’t of an arbitrary nature and that some form of measurement against expectations is taking place.
When preparing written performance reviews, managers should think in terms of what they want the employee to come away from the review with. Ratings need to be supported with comments that support the ratings in a way that lets the employee feel that the ratings are justified. Being unclear or watering down the issue will not leave the employee with a good feeling about the review process.
Being direct doesn’t mean being offensive or critical. It means being fair with employees by telling them exactly what needs attention and why and how behaviors may need to change. Learning to communicate bad news in a positive and instructive manner can be an art. As a manager, work hard to master that art and you will gain the respect and admiration of your employees.