Nudge Good Workers Toward Even Better Performance

—Adapted from “Quick tips on coaching employees for improved performance,”
by Karen S. Sieczka, on businessEvolved.com


You’ve built a high-performing staff, but that doesn’t mean you should just kick back and enjoy the results. Good performers can always get better—to their benefit as well as yours. Try these
tips to motivate them to new levels of excellence:

• Discover what drives your employees. As you develop stronger relationships with your staff, you’ll gain more insight into what really matters to them—and what motivates them. Use this knowledge to help them set goals that will fortify their strengths and overcome their weaknesses.
• Prompt employees to assess their work. When things go wrong, you may be tempted to take the short route and point out the mistake. But it’s better for employees to learn to critically analyze their own work product. Instead of saying, for instance, “This won’t work,” tryasking employees to examine the situation and identify potential pitfalls.
• Require employees to solve their problems. When workers are struggling with projects and come to you for help, offer suggestions but urge them to find their own answers. Express your confidence in their ability to work through the problem and arrive at a solution.
• Respond to employees in a positive way. When discussing an employee’s handling of a project, try to avoid words such as can’t, don’t, should, or shouldn’t, which undermine empowerment. Instead, try “Let’s consider some other alternatives” or similar phrasing that encourages workers to stretch their thinking.
• Recognize every employee’s progress. It’s human nature to heap more praise on the problem worker who makes a dramatic improvement than on the good worker who gets a tad better. But praise and recognition are the key ingredients in any recipe for improvement, large or small.