Many Employees Don’t Know What’s Expected of Them at Work

It’s tough for employees to meet performance goals when they don’t know exactly what’s expected of them.

Unfortunately far too many employees fall into this category based on Gallup’s work with companies worldwide. Helping employees to set and achieve goals is a manager’s key responsibility, but Gallup’s research and analysis show that most companies and managers don’t own this.

When I started my first role in London, one of the first tasks was meeting with my manager. Having my job role and responsibilities to hand, we sat down in a room and I was given a competency rating form, as well as KPI template, and training and development template. It all seemed a bit scary and over the top, and I didn’t see how this was in any shape or form going to help me in my career.

However, over the course of my career I actually came to enjoy these little exercises. It might have been the geek in me, but it felt good knowing I had a path to follow and forum to talk to someone should I want to veer off in another direction. It all started to make sense to me, and taught me how to use it to my advantage; grow and be better at my job as well as directing me to where to concentrate my efforts.

So for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of this process, let me give you a very quick overview:

Role Competencies: for each role/job there is set of core and secondary competencies that you need to meet to be able to do that role well. In my experience, initially you would complete the competency form with a scoring of 1 to 5 on where you believe you were on the scale, which would be reviewed at your first performance review (generally 3 months).

KPI’s: these were a set of goals that are set to fit in with your role and company objectives, as well as where you want to be going in the future. This is usually done under your manager’s guidance, and in the beginning it’s generally focused on the role/job you have been hired for to ensure you reach all the goals to complete it successfully. These KPI’s are generally looked at more frequently (once a month at your 1 to 1 with your manager) to see where you are, what’s going well, what isn’t, and helps understand if there are any blockers to reach these or just something you are struggling or need help with.

Training and Development: well its kind of what it says on the tin. However instead of throwing you at training and developing you in what you ‘fancy’ or sounds easy/interesting. It is very much linked to the above competencies and KPI’s. From there you and your manager will discuss where you need to up-skill, learn and develop.

However, in the more recent years (I’d say the last 4 years) since leaving my consultancy/agency role in London; it seems setting role specific KPI’s and competencies with regular 1 to 1’s with your manager, and obtaining structured feedback seem to be a thing of a past.

You might be thinking, but ‘yes that’s great’, we get to just go on do what we need to do; we are grownups after all? If you don’t know how to do the role you applied for, what are you doing here? And yes, there is a point on this, after all the expectancy is you know what you are doing or you wouldn’t be there.

However, lets flip this around for a moment. If you were an Olympic athlete runner, you wouldn’t be just turning up at races and running for you life in hopes to win. If anything you probably have the most structured life possible to ensure you are the best. You will likely have an entire team that are ensuring you are doing everything possible to be at your peak; from eating correctly getting adequate rest, training on schedule, pushing yourself to achieve better results, and ultimately working to all the goals set out before you by your team. Ensuring you have the tools and the ‘know how’ to get the best out of your natural abilities.

Research has shown that the three best ways to get the most out of your employees (from deliverables to engagement), is to follow these 3 very simple rules:

· ACHIEVEMENT: inspiring high performance starts with establishing clear expectations and goals. Employees need clear direction from their manager to know what is expected from them

· ACCOUNTABILITY: managers to not to just walk away as ‘job well done’, but to hold their employees accountable for meeting expectations and providing regular feedback

· ACCESSIBILITY: managers who are approachable and responsive when their employees request help

So the question is, are we missing a trick here getting rid of structured performance procedures, or has the creative industry become so creative, that that we don’t feel it’s relevant.

Personally, I feel that the structure should be brought back. No matter how incredibly AWESOME you are at your job, the reality is you need to ensure you are working towards your goals and the company goals. That can only really be achieved by ensuring they are actually in place.

Not to mention, having a track record of your achievements and the things you have done to bridge the gaps were you weaker on, can be great to reflect on, and help give you direction to what is next. Plus, should there be a promotion on the horizon, you have everything you need and documented to help you prove that you have what it takes to be put forward for it.

If you are not working for a company with these policies in place it, why not take some initiative and put these in place yourself. You can show your manager when you’re done, which may or may not spur on something that could follow through the organisation. Or at the very least you can own your growth, career and development. There are plenty online templates to start using, as well some great books and journals that are specifically targeted at helping you structure and put together your career goals.

So setting some time for yourself every week to set, review and reflect on your goals and progress. As well as putting action plans together to up-skill and concentrate on particular areas of your development, can only be good for you. So if you don’t have it in place where you are, I suggest taking this into your own hands, and be the master of your own success.

I would love to hear your thoughts, on whether your employer still has these policies in place, or not. How it’s been working for you and your organisation?