On Monday we talked about emotional IQ as a key element in how you manage your people and impact performance. Emotional IQ has to do with your self-awareness and emotional management to be effective with others; and how you as a boss, manage performance and promote growth considering the emotional needs and aspects of your staff.

Here are 3 key’s to know and 8 things to do to encourage and recognize employees, and to deliver necessary and “receivable” feedback to help them learn and improve, as both are critical for performance growth.

1. KNOW: Recognition (appropriate praise, appreciation and acknowledgement) is a driver in employee satisfaction and retention. Miss this and you may see your talent hit the streets.
2. KNOW: Constructive feedback – only – can literally create underperformance in employees due to decreased morale and trust or learned helplessness.
3. KNOW: That delivering constructive yet “receivable” feedback is difficult for most people to give, and it’s highly unlikely that it will be delivered well when you are upset. (Do not give critical feedback when you are “out of your effective zone”. )

1. DO: Work to balance positive and constructive feedback – both are developmental feeders. That means, ensure you are giving appropriate positive feedback in addition to what didn’t work and needs to improve.
2. DO: Regularly give feedback, both positive and constructive – not just once a year with a formal performance evaluation. (Meaning, there should be no surprises to the employee at their performance review.)
3. DO: Be very aware of your choice of language and tone in delivering feedback.
4. DO: Use feedback as an opportunity to build a relationship and trust. Help the employee understand performance concerns by talking with them, recognizing the problem, understanding company policy and establishing next steps for course correction.
5. DO: Set performance goals that are of interest to your employee – not just you. Higher motivation is inherent when an employee takes ownership of his/her goals.
6. DO: Use empathy and manners to convey concern and respect, i.e., “I Understand …I can appreciate… I respectfully disagree and here’s why…
7. Do: Ask questions to encourage self-reflection/assessment to begin an improvement conversation. For example, try questions like:
i. How do you think you are doing (in respect to this project)?
ii. How do you see yourself getting along with others?
iii. What did you learn? What do you believe could go better next time? And, what would/will you do to make this happen?
8. Do: Offer help (as appropriate): By asking how you can assist and by establishing agreement for a follow-up.

How you recognize employees, how you encourage them and how well you do at making them feel valued and appreciated, in addition to how effective you are at delivering constructive feedback, will cause their motivation meter to either go up or down.

Copyright 2011 Kubica LaForest Consulting

On Monday we talked about emotional IQ as a key element in how you manage your people and impact performance. Emotional IQ has to do with your self-awareness and emotional management to be effective with others; and how you as a boss, manage performance and promote growth considering the emotional needs and aspects of your staff.

Here are 3 key’s to know and 8 things to do to encourage and recognize employees, and to deliver necessary and “receivable” feedback to help them learn and improve, as both are critical for performance growth.

1. KNOW: Recognition (appropriate praise, appreciation and acknowledgement) is a driver in employee satisfaction and retention. Miss this and you may see your talent hit the streets.
2. KNOW: Constructive feedback – only – can literally create underperformance in employees due to decreased morale and trust or learned helplessness.
3. KNOW: That delivering constructive yet “receivable” feedback is difficult for most people to give, and it’s highly unlikely that it will be delivered well when you are upset. (Do not give critical feedback when you are “out of your effective zone”. )

1. DO: Work to balance positive and constructive feedback – both are developmental feeders. That means, ensure you are giving appropriate positive feedback in addition to what didn’t work and needs to improve.
2. DO: Regularly give feedback, both positive and constructive – not just once a year with a formal performance evaluation. (Meaning, there should be no surprises to the employee at their performance review.)
3. DO: Be very aware of your choice of language and tone in delivering feedback.
4. DO: Use feedback as an opportunity to build a relationship and trust. Help the employee understand performance concerns by talking with them, recognizing the problem, understanding company policy and establishing next steps for course correction.
5. DO: Set performance goals that are of interest to your employee – not just you. Higher motivation is inherent when an employee takes ownership of his/her goals.
6. DO: Use empathy and manners to convey concern and respect, i.e., “I Understand …I can appreciate… I respectfully disagree and here’s why…
7. Do: Ask questions to encourage self-reflection/assessment to begin an improvement conversation. For example, try questions like:
   a. How do you think you are doing (in respect to this project)?
   b. How do you see yourself getting along with others?
   c. What did you learn? What do you believe could go better next time? And,
   what would/will you do to make this happen?
8. Do: Offer help (as appropriate): By asking how you can assist and by establishing agreement for a follow-up.

How you recognize employees, how you encourage them and how well you do at making them feel valued and appreciated, in addition to how effective you are at delivering constructive feedback, will cause their motivation meter to either go up or down.

Copyright 2011 Kubica LaForest Consulting

This Blog has to do with how you manage your people, how you recognize them, how you encourage them and how well you do at making them feel appreciated.

In How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (1940), he tells of story about why Andrew Carnegie paid Charles Schwab a million dollars a year. He paid him that vast sum of money (this was the late1800’s) because of his ability to deal with people.

Charles Schwab says it best in his own words:

“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among the men the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop that in a man is by appreciation and encouragement. There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a man as criticism from his superiors.”

Yet criticism often predominates in business. And it shows itself by focusing primarily on what didn’t go well or what the person could do better or by a few sentences of saying something positive and supportive then moving quickly into what didn’t go well. And, of course, is prefaced by the powerful three letter word – “but”. “But” is used as an opposing proposition. So, once the word “but” is uttered, everything you just said is quickly forgotten as the person now braces for your “constructive criticism”. “But” erases what came before it.

We do not advocate flattery, let alone artificial recognition, or ignoring the need for improvement in the employee. We do advocate a shift in the imbalance of criticism/appreciation to appreciation/opportunities to improve.

And here are some myths:

• People know what they do well, it’s my job to point out what they don’t do well
• Why do I need to waste time with appreciation, I’m busy, let’s cut to chase and focus on what needs to get better
• If people can’t take the truth they need to find another job.

We have an important message for you – no one, and that includes you, likes to have the focus on only what’s not going well, as it taints experience. If that’s all you hear, it has a powerful de-motivating effect on you that can ultimately result in learned helplessness, loss of confidence or quitting – and clearly, morale and productivity are impacted. None of which is good for the company or your business.

Delivering helpful verses hurtful feedback is a skill, and a skill most people sincerely can improve upon. This falls into the “emotional intelligence” of the deliverer to best work with the core yet over-looked element of the emotional management factors on employee performance and development.

In this week’s Quick Tips we will provide ideas and suggestions and how to build your emotional IQ skills to deliver feedback that is helpful and promotes improvement verses de-motivation.

Copyright 2011 Kubica LaForest Consulting