Do They Know What You Want?

Photo by Ameer Basheer on Unsplash

Today I had a coaching session. Nothing new there, but some people are a joy to work with because they really want to make themselves better leaders and are willing to do the work necessary to make that happen. David is one of those people.

He asked for a book to read during a hiatus in our coaching schedule due to his company's workload. I recommended, It's the Manager by Gallup. He said a previous book he had read by Gallup, First Break All the Rules, was one he had found very helpful, especially two questions, "Do they know what you want?" and "Do they have what they need to do it?" I could see this was very much a part of his leadership style and had helped successfully improve the performance of his people and his section.

Our conversation reminded me of the importance of setting clear expectations. Many times we believe we have been clear. Or we may just believe we shouldn't have to spell things out because "everyone knows" about certain expectations in the workplace. I have had managers tell me they shouldn't have to tell their employees what they expect because, "No one told me. I figured it out."

And we wonder why the performance we get isn't the performance we want.

My husband and I used to play in a dart league when we were younger. You had a scoreboard and you knew exactly what you needed to hit in order to make your target (and it wasn't always the bullseye.) Once you knew what you needed, it was a matter of focus and skill to win.  You could always just throw the dart in the general direction of the board and hope for the best, but in that case, winning was a matter of luck, not focus or skill. And winning wasn't likely. You have much better success when you have a specific spot on the board you're aiming at (a clearly defined target.)

Clear expectations tell people exactly what they have to do to be successful. You may need to demonstrate or to provide examples. One of the managers I coached had a fast food restaurant and was frustrated because his people had "no work ethic." He said he would tell them to "stock the front," but when he checked their work, it wasn't done. The issue wasn't that his employees were lazy, it was that their idea of what he meant by "stock the front" and his idea, were not the same. I told him to stock the front the way he wanted it to look when he gave that instruction and then bring his employees out and show them. Explain the standard for each element of the task. Once this was done, they understood what he wanted and he had much better performance.

Give your people a clear target if you want to win.

Whining or Winning?

There is a oft-cited quote about customer service that says, "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." (Bill Gates) Most of us believe that. We dissect customer complaints; we do customer surveys. We try to figure out what our customers want, and we change processes, products and services to meet their expectations.

Given that, why do we have a totally different view toward employee complaints? When employees complain, we say they "have a bad attitude," they're "whiners,"  or "crybabies." I understand the sentiment. I even find myself falling prey to that same thought process. Then I slap myself and remember, these people can help me...if I listen. No complaints? Then you have a problem. A serious problem. This is the waving red flag that your employees either do not care enough about your organization to tell you when something seems wrong to them, or they do not trust you to do anything about it. Or worse, they may feel a complaint is a sure-fire way to get a pink slip.

Complaining employees can indeed be Debbie (or Donnie) Downers--complaining about every little thing, real or imagined. That small percentage should be encouraged to go somewhere else. But most employee complaints have some merit. Employee complaints can help me discover why my turnover is so high. Why the company can't seem to meet deadlines. Which customers are costing me more to service than they are actually adding to my revenue. Who might be doing things they shouldn't. Where there might be hidden risks and liabilities. But I have to listen. More importantly, employees have to know I listened.

Listening is not the same as hearing. I can hear the words and ignore the meaning. I can also focus on the wrong things because of the filter I am listening through. Let's say an employee complains about a company policy. I am assuming you had a decent reason for implementing the policy in the first place, although that isn't always the case (the soapbox for another day.) So why the complaint? Is the employee complaining because they feel they lost something they had before the policy? Is it because the process created by the policy is cumbersome? Is there a message they are taking from the policy that is really the cause for their concern (you don't trust me)? Or was the policy and the reason for it poorly communicated?

I can give many examples, but I am sure you can think of many on your own. I want to talk more about how to listen. Most employees want to and will generally try to, complain inside a company first. And believe me, I want to know about a possible problem before anyone outside of the company knows. Usually that complaint is going to be to the supervisor. That means I need to ensure my supervisors know how to accept complaints and take care of them. If the supervisor is the source of the complaint, there needs to be another way to complain. Some ideas are a hotline, anonymous email, suggestion boxes, town hall meetings, and other opportunities to meet and talk to someone who can take the complaint (and know what to do with it.) Your HR Department is often such a place. Many people resist setting up complaints methods (especially anonymous ones) because they don't want people jumping the chain of command or being malicious in their complaints. I get it. The first usually doesn't happen if an employee trusts their chain of command and the last one happens very rarely. The vast majority of the complaints received will have some validity.

Listening is not enough. Once you have been told something--even if you think there is little or no truth to it--you have to look into it. Too many times I have seen companies blow off a complaint about a worker or supervisor because she's a nice person or he is a good family man. They may even ignore multiple complaints. Then there's a major incident and no one told them--until the EEOC calls. You don't want to be that company. So look into every complaint. If you can't be objective, find someone who can. Get the facts. Act. Tell the employee(s) what you have done to fix the issue (or why it's really not an issue.)

Treat your employee complaints like customer complaints and you'll have a better workplace and more profitable company.