Are employees on your holiday shopping list?
Your employees are the heart and the performance power behind all that happens at your organization. How could they not be included in some holiday appreciation, celebration or gift?
But before you feel more overwhelmed by the additional names that just got added to your holiday shopping list, let me help. I have a suggestion for the best holiday gift ever for your employees. Here it is: clearly-defined 2013 performance expectations. Happy Holidays!
Wait. Hear me out. Let me tell you why working with an employee to clearly define his performance expectations is the best gift you can give him or her.
Clearly defined performance expectations:
- Give an employee a roadmap of how to be successful – because knowing how to succeed in your job is a great gift.
- Allows an employee a voice in how to complete his work so he feels capable, competent and confident – because feeling the 3 Cs in the workplace is a great gift.
- Build time together with the employee and manager – because feeling connected to and important in the eyes of your manager is a great gift.
- Show employees how they help the organization improve and grow – because feeling like you matter at your company is a great gift.
So, it’s not a Starbucks card, a tower of fruits and nuts, or a bottle of Cabernet. Those gifts, to me, are nice but are not a gift that keeps giving.
Since the gift is to be more about her receiver than the giver, what is it that employees want from the workplace? They want to know where they are headed, feel successful, have a good relationship with their manager and feel like they matter. When they achieve these, they create the potential for promotions, development and incentives because they drive the organization’s results and influence its success. A gift that is good for them and good for you.
What if this year you give your employee a success plan for the holidays? This plan would share expectations and would provide the support for the employee to excel at what he does (the feeling of being great at what we do is powerful – and last longer than a $10 Starbucks gift card).
You don’t have to take my holiday gift idea – but as you get your employees ready for 2013, at least consider spending time with each to clearly define the daily, weekly and monthly expectations so they know how to step up and stand out. In the absence of this clarity, the new year may start out with a bang, but fizzle very quickly.
For help in creating Performance Expectations, get a copy of Fire Up! Your Employees. I devote an entire chapter to showing the performance expectation process (including the hands-on forms), so that all employees can show up each day at work clearly understanding what has to be done and have a voice in determining how to do it. Confidence, clarity and success in the workplace – all great gifts. And managers have the ability of sharing these gifts with every employee.
Written by: Jay Forte
President, Humanetrics, LLC
www.humanetricsllc.com
