How To Have High Performance Conversations That Boost Engagement, Productivity and Profit

• 87% of employees feel they are being productive.
• Only 12% of employers would agree.

This is a huge gap in perceptions.

Are our leaders doing enough to communicate that their expectations are not being met?

Are our employees being left entirely in the dark?

It’s a horrible feeling when you suspect that someone doesn’t think that you’re doing a very good job. It’s worse, when it remains a feeling and isn’t addressed openly, transparently and with care.

In this week’s episode of with INTENT: we discuss how leaders must lead in cultivating the right conditions for high performance conversations - keeping teams engaged and driving productivity.

With INTENT: our 5 minute deconstructions of the current trends to inspire healthy rethinking and reconstructive action.

by Chris Wickenden, Chief Creative Officer at FROM:TODAY

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi, Chris here from FROM:TODAY. We need to have more high performance conversations in our organisations. To borrow the terminology of Kim Scott and radical candour, conversations where people both care personally and challenge directly. Now, what drives me towards this conclusion is this. Currently, whilst 87 percent of employees believe that they are being productive, Only 12 percent of employers would say the same thing about those workers, and it's this massive gap that leads me to question the quality of the communication from leaders towards their workers.

Now, we've all heard about the phenomenon or the trend for quiet quitting. There's also currently a trend for one of the better. of um, quiet firing, or silent sacking, or whatever terminology you want to use. But it is basically this behaviour of bosses not [00:01:00] directly addressing performance issues with their team, but instead choosing to sideline those lower performing employees, and disenfranchise them, not involve them, in the hope that eventually they just quit.

And I think we can do better than that. I'm sure that we can. And it's all about the extent to which we invest in the relationships on a day to day basis, building the requisite level of trust, to feel confident in having those conversations and all of the time. The current stats from Gallup show that actually when managers have all of the Just one more meaningful conversation with their teams per week.

It generates high performance relationships more than any other activities, all about that communication. And also trust is such a key word when it comes to leadership because To an extent, the moment that you assume the position of boss, you are fighting preconceptions. You're fighting natural suspicions and distrust towards you.

[00:02:00] So it's almost as if you have to be even more intentional and work twice as hard to build that level of trust. It requires a relentless investment in relationships. It requires a relentless commitment to make sure that your actions match your words. So over time, people begin to trust that you are genuine, you're authentic, and that you care.

And generally feedback isn't brilliantly received when people don't feel that it is coming from a place of care beyond simply what they are able to produce. And the other thing that's absolutely crucial about these high performance conversations is to ensure that it is two way. Employees have to feel that they have a platform to share open and honest feedback.

But the problem is currently worldwide. Only one in four employees feel that their opinion matters within their organization. On top of that, only 8 percent of people say that their organization does anything [00:03:00] as a result of various engagement surveys. So you can see how this is contributing to an overall level of disengagement.

And it's all about communication. So clearly Disengagement and driving productivity are complex and nuanced challenges and there is no one single solution. I wish we had it, that'd be fantastic. But I do believe that all of the best answers lie in how leaders show up on a day to day basis. Investing in the relationships and laying the foundations for high trust, high performance conversations.

So, this is our guidance here. Number one, embrace relationship building as part of your job. Number two, factor in time every day to speak and listen to your team. Number three, invite criticism and create a clear process where it can happen all of the time. Number four, once you've understood [00:04:00] that feedback, act on it or explain really clearly why you're not or why you can't act on it right now.

And number five, Don't wait to give feedback. Don't wait for stuffy, formal appraisals. Generally, say it when you see it. And a general guide is criticize in private and praise in public. And the last thought that I'd like to leave you with is this. If there is someone that you can currently think of within your team that is not performing well, their performance is frustrating you, Ask yourself this, can you honestly say that you have done everything in your power to number one, let them know about it.

Number two, to explore what might be behind it. And number three, to provide as much guidance and support as possible to move that performance forward, to improve it. If the answer to that is no, Then that has to be where you start. So as always, we really want to hear from [00:05:00] you to carry on the conversation.

You can get in touch with me at chris@fromtoday. com or simply on LinkedIn. I look forward to speaking to you then. Cheers. Bye bye.