Whether your company has defined responsibilities by role or not, every individual should have results they are responsible for. Maybe they have tasks they are always responsible for, or maybe there are one-time projects or items they have committed to. While assigning responsibilities by role is the most successful method, what is most important is how you address commitments not fulfilled. Why is this so important? Because it sets the tone of what you expect, AND it can dramatically affect your teams rate of growth.
So, how should you address an employee who did not fulfill their commitment? Make it uncomfortable.
This does not mean making a massive scene that may be questioned by HR. You must have positive intent and handle the situation in a professional manner. The goal is to not make the situation comfortable. That means, don’t let them off easy. If this is a pattern, it is ok to politely call them out in front of other employees, it doesn’t have to wait until later. Other peoples lack of results has an impact on the entire company.
For example, if your sales manager has committed to performing 25 Cold Calls per week, but it is Friday morning and they haven’t met the metric, bring it up. Ask them what their game plan is. Apply pressure for the commitment to be fulfilled.
If an Account Manager is behind on preparing Maintenance Renewals, bring it up. Explain the importance of the renewals being performed timely. If you are using a software like Aspire Software, renewals must be managed before the work tickets can be scheduled. This means one managers lack of follow-through may be negatively impacting another manager needing to prepare the upcoming maintenance schedule.
The same goes for frontline employees. If you notice a crew lead is not performing to your companies’ standards, bring it to their attention. Bring them into the office and have the uncomfortable conversation. You can even subtly make it uncomfortable by taking pictures of their poor work and using it as a training opportunity for the entire team (without naming the individual).
No one enjoys being uncomfortable, especially when you are at fault. Often times, it will not take more than one uncomfortable situation for an individual to fix their mistake and ensure it doesn’t happen again. For some, this might be what it takes to break an old habit and build a new one.
What is important to note as a leader is that this goes both ways. If you have committed to something and not fulfilled it, you are equally as deserving to be called out. You need to make this clear to your team in order for this to come across as helpful criticism and not a power-move.
As you do this more often, it will become familiar to everyone. Ideally, the entire team will be comfortable pointing out other individuals. This is what we call becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. This is not only a personal growth for yourself and your team, but it will allow your company to grow as well. When you shift from a culture of avoidance to a culture of facing uncomfortable situations and bringing them to light, the quality, efficiency, and productivity of your company will increase.
If you’re ready to make this adjustment but would like to discuss further, please reach out today.
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