In our last blog post, we talked about the task most executives dread the most—employee evaluations.
In our experience, executives don’t look forward to employee feedback sessions of any kind. So, they tend to procrastinate about them.
This is especially true when an executive is faced with a challenging evaluation of an employee who is either underperforming or being disruptive. And one difficult conversation often leads to more difficult conversations. So, the easiest thing to do is put it off. Next thing you know, that annual evaluation is happening once every 18 to 24 months.
If you find yourself avoiding employee evaluations, the tips we offered last time will help you push past that. It is important that you do so. Regular, constructive conversations with employees are key to keeping everyone on the right track professionally and mentally.
Speaking of that, it’s vitally important that you, as an executive, are in a good place mentally when you conduct employee evaluations. Prepare, and give yourself time to do this right. Don’t hold the meeting when you are tired or stressed. The employee will pick up on your tension, and, chances are, the session might not go as well as you planned.
If an emergency comes up and you are too distracted to have the meeting, reschedule—but reschedule within a short time frame. The employee will be counting on you to follow through.
And know this: The more feedback you give, the easier it becomes to give it. It also becomes less stressful for you, which means you might not be so quick to put off these sorts of meetings.
The Power of Emotions
It’s important to realize that emotion not only affects your willingness to get the job done, but it also impacts how productive that feedback session will be. I know that when I’m emotionally charged about a person’s performance or behavior, our feedback sessions don’t go as well as when I’m relaxed and emotionally detached from the situation.
In fact, emotion plays a key role in situations every day throughout a workplace. That’s one of the big reasons we are so committed to assessing and nurturing Emotional Intelligence (EQ), which is the ability to identify, assess, and control emotional responses in others and ourselves.
Part of EQ involves self-awareness and self-regulation—two of the most important emotional elements for both the executive giving the feedback and the person being evaluated.
If the executive has poor self-awareness and self-regulation, that can (and usually does) get in the way of feedback, leading to less constructive conversations and poorer outcomes. Similarly, if the person receiving the feedback is not self-aware and has poor self-regulation, that can (and usually does) hinder how they receive feedback and how they move forward after the meeting.
Communication is 7% verbal, 38% tone and 55% body language. The executive needs to be aware of not only what they say, but how they say it. For example, demonstrating empathy (another component of EQ) is essential when giving constructive criticism and will help convey the harshest of feedback.
The executive also needs to recognize what their body language is saying. If they are dreading the evaluation, it will come across that way (pursed lips, crossed arms, etc.). A self-aware executive will self-regulate and change their negative mood to a more positive one. The body language will naturally follow (smiling, relaxed arms, etc.), and the evaluation will go more smoothly.
At CCG, we regularly use EQ assessments in our executive coaching program. Participants say the assessments and the subsequent debriefs help them better understand themselves as well as how to relate to and lead others.
Being able to give effective feedback is one of your greatest tools as a leader. Offering regular, constructive feedback to your employees is a proven method of increasing productivity with both individuals and entire teams. It helps morale and makes for happier employees. It is especially important with Millennials, and they make up an increasingly large part of your workforce.
Besides all that, it simply helps you do what you do better.