Who will you set up for failure at work today, creating stress and anxiety, when carrying out your role as a manager?
You won’t do this deliberately of course. Read my story and I promise to share a great proven approach and model for SETTING YOUR PEOPLE UP FOR SUCCESS. 👏
As a manager in my early days on the job I often unknowingly set people up for failure.
I was promoted and overnight responsible for 17 people, delivering wide range of services and managing a building.
My employer didn’t provide support or direction to help me lead and manage others performance, or for me personally. I have no doubt I created stress and anxiety in my people, and this was certainly created in me.
I found out quickly that different skills added to the ones I had were needed
A familiar story from many managers over the years I have worked with.
I learned through experience the first person I should look to for my people’s failure was me. I strongly advise any manager should do the same in the early stages of someone not performing as you want at work.
SUCCESS….
Ask yourself these questions when one of YOUR people is not performing as you wish.
Success is:
S – Skills and knowledge Has the individual got the skills, and knowledge to be able carry out the task that is being asked of them?
U – Understanding Has the person really understood what is expected, and why? Can there be any misunderstanding?
C – Clearly Communicated How clear has required standards of performance from the individual been communicated to ensure it is understood? Could there be any ‘assumptions’ made about this clarity?
C – Coaching process Has the leader as coach process been carried out to ensure understanding, skills and knowledge have been attained by the individual? Has this been done stage by stage with sufficient direction and support?
E – Evaluating and feedback. What measurement of success or failure is being used as a benchmark? Does the individual know this so they can see if they are succeeding or failing first? What feedback has the leader provided? and in what way has it been provided?
S – Sharing approach When one of your team has a performance problem it is a joint one between the leader and the individual initially. Has a ‘we are in it together’ perspective been used?
S – Setting up for success! It is the leader’s role to set their individual up for success and following the guidelines given here is good practice. Of course, if the leader has done all of the ‘shared approach’ and there is still a problem with performance, it will require a different process.
MAY saw Mental Health Awareness ‘JUST ANXIETY’ recognition, following APRIL’s STRESS AWARENESS MONTH reminder.
Every work day of every month leaders and managers have an important role to play regarding the wellness of employees. The ability to prevent and reduce stress and anxiety or to increase it, simply by being competent and confident in their roles.