Four Keys to Performance Coaching

There are many ways to give constructive criticism and feedback to employees, but at Nimble Advisors we have found four keys to our strategy for developing this skill in Managers. The four keys’ Managers need to practice when delivering feedback are: 

1. Do it often.  

The days of employees going about their work wondering if they are meeting expectations and waiting for their annual performance review are dead. When it comes to discussing their performance, terms and conditions of employment (think compensation, benefits, wellness, etc.), career goals, and additional opportunities at the company--every generation in the labor force today wants to know where they stand frequently. Granted, some highly regulated industries and even labor-union agreements specifically require the performance of a written annual performance review for their members- but this should not preclude Managers from having more frequent performance check-ins with their direct reports. At the very least, every two weeks Managers should be meeting with their direct reports to provide feedback, support, and offer solutions when needed. 

Data supports this key tactic too, according to a PwC survey, nearly 60% of respondents reported that they would like feedback on a daily or weekly basis—a number that increased to 72% for employees under age 30. 

2. Do it in person. 

Much has been written about the employee that gets fired via a Zoom call or even worse, via text message. When it comes to performance conversations nothing beats delivering them in-person. Unless the employee works remotely, delivering feedback in-person works best. In-person performance coaching should be a frequent and collaborative process of molding the employee's skill set and performance levels to where they can be exceeded by the employee. 

3. Do it objectively. 

Not only do all employees crave feedback, but they want to know how you as a manager believe that they can improve their performance. This brings us right back to standards and metrics, and the need for Managers to actively drive the performance of their employees rather than simply letting employee performance occur. Managing is the act of having supervisory control or authority over the performance of another. This means holding your employees' performance up to standards and metrics and pursuing adjustments and intervening when performance standards are not being met. To objectively coach an employee to perform better demands the definition of standards and metrics, and the communication of those expectations to your employees. Any conversation of improving performance without data about the performance expectations will backfire and leave the employee dazed and confused.  

4. Do it clearly.  

Not only is it important to coach your employees to perform objectively and using observable standards and metrics you can both agree on, but how you communicate is equally important. Words matter one of my English college professors used to say. Never more so than when communicating with your employees. There must be no ambiguity in your choice of words when coaching one of your employees. Avoid words like "good" and "bad" which are subjective and drive the narrative of the conversation back to what the performance metric is, the standards expected by the organization, and the performance levels reached by the employee. If you do this with empathy and collaboratively, you can energize your employee and drive his or her levels of performance higher.

Do you struggle with giving your employees feedback in a way that drives improvement in their performance? We’d welcome an opportunity to speak with you, we can help. Let’s talk!