Priorities get tricky. There is always so much to be done – in life, at work. At both places, it is easy missing out on some of the most important priorities. Reason – they don’t ask for our time enough. Employee success is one such priority that often gets ignored.
As we continue ignoring or postponing, priorities keep getting delayed. We first feel sorry about the delay. Then the guilt becomes easier to live with till it becomes non-existent.
How much of your time each day do you spend on planning employee success?
If you are aware of your cost per minute as a leader or a manager, what’s your personal investment towards employee success?
Before you answer, let me remind you that review meetings, strategy discussions don’t count.
Outside of weekly, monthly review meetings with employees, how much of your personal time do you spend coaching them for their personal success?
If like most, the answer is not encouraging, time to make changes to your to-do list. Well, you better have one. Or there may be other missed priorities.
A checklist or to-do list is the single most effective productivity tool you need for time and productivity management.
Planning Employee Success
The best of employees need feedback to improve. So do not reserve your support and feedback for only those who do not meet the performance benchmarks. They do need special attention, but mentoring and success coaching has to be universal.
It is a matter of perspective. Employees busy chasing goals often need to be reminded of the larger context.
- Some may need help managing work life balance as they were too busy chasing goals, winning rewards and earning incentives.
- Some may get too busy doing what they do best. They forget the larger role they are destined to play.
- Some may keep ideas and suggestions to themselves fearing their ideas are not good enough.
- Some may not share concerns and challenges as they fear being perceived as weak and less confident.
There are so many other reasons why employees may need your experience and mentorship to succeed and aim higher.
Make success coaching a mix of one-on-one and group sessions. Incorporate story telling. Have a clear objective for each session and maintain a calendar as well as records of each session. It’s a journey and often you need to look back to plan your move ahead.
Someday, a decade or two later, one of your proteges will share your leadership story in a blog post, in a viral social media post or a YouTube video.
Happy reading, Happy leading. And do subscribe for more such posts. I’d love to see you come back 😊
In case you missed
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Netflix has developed a work culture that doesn’t tolerate brilliant jerks. Quoting Netflix CEO Reed Hastings – “Some companies tolerate them. For us, the cost to effective teamwork is too high.” Jerks destroy culture and teamwork.
The not so brilliant jerks are easily disposable. But how to deal with brilliant jerks? Reed says “fire them”. I without a doubt agree. But is it always the best solution? Find out.
