Getting the basics right

I was able today to help a colleague with an area of work he was struggling with - time management. It's an oft quoted area of difficulty that junior staff just don't know how to handle. I was also able to help a colleague think about how to set realistic objectives for team members. What came out from both of these conversations is the importance of getting the basics right. And when I say the basics I really do mean the basics.

In the probation period of any new joiner the onboarding process should ensure a range of things are happening so that person is able to be effective in their job. A lot of that though has to do with the essentials of the job role. We can expect someone to hit the ground running when joining, but if we're not giving them the right start, how can we expect them to succeed? A person can only be pro-active so much before they're just facing obstinance and challenges.

So what is this onboarding process all about? Research has shown that an effective onboarding process increases the amount of discretionary effort an employee chooses to exercise. Discretionary effort is defined as the amount of effort an employee chooses to exercise over and above the bare minimum. So, the better the onboarding, the more engaged and productive the employee. Therefore the onboarding process has to be robust, inclusive and wide ranging.

What you'll find is these suggestions seem to cover trivial things but you'll be surprised how much of a difference they truly make.

Here are my suggestions for an effective onbaording programme:

Week 1

- orientation of the building including things like facilities department, toilets, canteen, vending machines, exits and entrances to the building.

- meeting everyone in your department and going for a department/team lunch

- meeting people from other departments who are key to their role

- all the technical stuff (PC, phone) set up and ready before they arrive

- showing them things like file structures, networks, intranets, extranets, wikis, etc

- give them an overview of the organisation structure

- meaningful tasks to start getting on with

- arrange a buddy

Week 2

- setting objectives for the probation period

- introducing them to other departments and getting them to arrange their own meetings

- assigned work relevant to their role

- explain company history and values

- talk them through HR processes and L&D plans

Week 3

- weekly meeting to discuss progress and review their learnings to date

- buddy lunch

- arrange possible shadowing of other team members

Week 4

- weekly meeting

- explanation of competency frameworks

- explanation of different business units, how they contribute to the company and how you work with them all

- evaluation of how they are adapting to the work environment and coaching to improve their effectiveness

This is what should happen in the first month. There should be a lot more that happens which you will need to identify. But if you can get these basics right then things such as performance reviews, giving feedback, coaching, all become easier because you've already covered these aspects. Conversations can then centre on actual job role, tasks, development, etc.

'Tis the season to do your appraisals

Oh it's that time of year. Collate feedback. Backtrack over the past year's performance. Have meeting. Set objectives. Give rating. Salary review. Carry on and keep calm.

Appraisals are oft quoted as being the hardest task for managers. Why? Because managers are responsible for all those things above. And it's hard work. Sure it comes with the responsibility, but it doesn't make it easy. Especially if you have a big team to deal with. It's no less a challenge for managers with small teams though. Either way it's a burden. A necessary burden. A necessary evil. Actually, no. Check that. An essential necessity.

Carrying out appraisals are the most effective way of ensuring your team members are on track to help them achieve their personal goals, objectives, business goals and success. Even if you see your team member once a year, that will be the single most important meeting between a manager and your direct report.

Tom Peters talks about making arduous tasks into 'WOW! Projects'. The essence of which says make an appraisal a meeting about excellence, creating a wider team of experts, setting amazing objectives and giving inspirational feedback. Yes, very American. But an interesting premise from which to work. My take on this? An appraisal should be a meaningful experience for all involved.

How can you make it meaningful? Well simple things like preparing in advance. Letting the team know meetings are upcoming. Ensure everyone is aware of what's expected in the meeting. Have all paperwork completed before the meeting. Set uninterruptable time aside. Spend time listening to your direct reports thoughts about their performance. There's more, much more, but it's about committing to the process. Not because it's a call from HR or the Exec team. But because it means so much to the success of a business.

Research (Corporate Leadership Council, Gallup) has shown that the discretionary effort from employees increases dependent on how well they are engaged by the organisation and their line managers. What is discretionary effort? The amount of effort an employee chooses to exercise based on how well they perceive they are being treated.

Employee engagement is a whole topic unto itself. But if a manager doesn't commit to the appraisal process then you can wave goodbye to your staff. I will guarantee that with regards to appraisals, the following contribute to making it a poor process:
- last minute notification of meeting (i.e. tomorrow or even worse, this afternoon)
- poor solicited feedback
- poorly set and worded objectives
- badly delivered feedback
- lack of consideration of coaching opportunity
- judgements based on impressions rather than evidence based

Yet I'm amazed how many managers will use the excuse "but those things will happen because I have no time". Nonsence. That's a poor excuse to say "I'm not committed to the process and care little for the development of my staff".

I've seen some great managers who don't dismiss the importance of a good appraisal. Unfortunately they're few and far between. Also they're not shouted about enough to show what a great example looks like. Particulary though, it also falls on either HR or the Exec team to raise the profile of appraisals in a meaningful way.

'Tis definitely the season to wind down and recharge those batteries. 'Tis also the season to show your staff that you're serious about their development.