Gastroenteritis epidemic, increase in the price of commodities, prolonged delay in deliveries, transportation breakdown, attack on servers, resignation… As the weeks go by, the “worries” change.
Such problems require the immediate attention of management and leaders who, not having the gift of ubiquity, cancel the bilaterals to fight these monsters.
The latest Gallup survey tells us that more than 50% of company employees no longer know what is expected of them!
And what about the job descriptions, you may say. Yes, but they are not circumstantiated. The basic contract is probably explicit, but not contextualized.
Thus, thinking they are doing the right thing, each manager makes their own interpretation of what needs to be done, based on their perception of the situation.
The disappointment – the thorn of the cactus – comes when he or she receives “constructive” feedback on what should have been done, or could have been done, when no agreement had been reached before.
I still think that not “listening – responding” to the needs of one’s team – even if only for 10 minutes – is a crime of lèse management.
Agreeing on expectations and intentions of what would be OK, or even excellent, is critical in managing resources.
The employees are professional and trained enough to translate this into objectives and do the right thing.
This is where they expect feedback that will nourish and motivate them to continue to stand in these “complicated” circumstances.
How much time do you spend on setting clear expectations ?
