Organizations live or die on the quality of their managers. Their ability to modify or correct problem behaviour has always been a necessary, if not critical, skill in elevating employee performance. And the post-pandemic workplace has introduced a new dynamic that includes such unanticipated forces as quiet quitting and the great resignation. It’s especially challenging to foster collaboration and cohesion when strong personalities must work side-by-side as well as remotely to deliver on increasingly demanding, creative and complex tasks. Inevitably, mistakes are made and, if substandard performance isn’t quickly and effectively addressed, it’s more likely to compound and become part of a downward sloping “new normal.”
A seismic shift in the employer-employee relationship is currently underway – one that has placed a greater emphasis on manager relatability, particularly for younger knowledge workers who seek a genuine connection to the organization’s mission. Without that, the most talented leave. According to McKinsey and Deloitte, only 14% of FORTUNE 500 CEOs say they now have the high performers they require to compete. And 97% lament: “we don’t develop our people effectively.” This is an indictment of their managers’ ineffectiveness in dealing with problem employee behaviours.
Simply stated, most managers dislike and are therefore uncomfortable, unwilling or incapable of dealing with workplace conflict. So, they tend to overlook minor annoyances and frustrations in the hope that unacceptable behaviours will somehow change on their own. But that never happens – they invariably become chronic, then invasively spread as others see them unaddressed. “Why should I bother if they can get away with it?” is the typical response. Knowing how to initiate timely, constructive conversations, offer candid and beneficial feedback, confront sub-par performance issues and adroitly handle disagreements and pushback is the primary focus of this webinar.
Topics include:
❏ What best predicts employee productivity and tenure
❏ The root causes of employee problem behaviour
❏ How managers contribute to mediocre performance
❏ Why employees don’t tell you what you need to know
❏ Giving and getting good, honest feedback: Rules and caveats
❏ How to give really tough, honest and actionable feedback
❏ Giving feedback remotely and across ages and cultures
❏ A counter-intuitive way of delivering and nurturing ownership
❏ Encouraging honest feedback about your own performance
❏ Assessing the accuracy of the advice you receive from others
❏ How to ask for feedback that no one wants to give you
❏ Mastering difficult conversations and handling employee silence
❏ How to build a culture of effective and open feedback loops
❏ Is it better to be tough or nice when giving feedback?
❏ The difference between being a boss and being a coach
❏ How to conduct better check-ins and coaching sessions
❏ The critical check-in questions you should ask your boss
❏ When feedback fails: How to confront problem behaviour
❏ Dealing with under-performers who don’t think they are
❏ How to disagree without being disagreeable or disrespectful
❏ Addressing the little things before they become big things
❏ When the issue is with a colleague, not a direct report
❏ The meaning of “no” and “maybe”– how to make it a “yes”
❏ How to make disagreement a force for good in your workplace
** Includes a Pre-course Workbook of tasks and supplemental readings.