No one ever said being a manager would be easier than reporting to one. Inevitably, one of your valued direct reports will make a substantial mistake, and it’ll be your job to point it out without being too bossy or too passive.
Come on too strong and you could damage his morale. Come on too soft and he might never improve. Either way, you can be sure his peers—and yours—will hear all about how you handled the situation the next time coffee gets brewed, and you only get one chance to do it right.
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So, take this advice from a few career experts on how to put the ‘constructive’ in constructive criticism, and turn a moment of correction into a turning point for success.
1. Be Prepared
Probably the easiest and most popular response to a manager’s complaint is “I didn’t know this was an issue.” Get ahead of that response by communicating your expectations early and by having regular, honest meetings with staffers.
Maynard Webb, eBay’s long-time COO and author of Rebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship, says regular check-ins make critiques less surprising and easier to accept. “I’ve often implemented informal weekly and formal quarterly check-ins in an effort to force a dialogue and prevent a big disconnect when employees find out they weren’t doing as well as their perception led them to believe,” Webb says.
Leadership consultant Doug Sundheim, author of Taking Smart Risks: How Sharp Leaders Win When Stakes are High, agrees that frequent check-ins can make criticism less jarring. “One reason conversations about mistakes kill morale is because the mistakes often build up for weeks and months as small issues that aren’t being addressed along the way,” he says. “When it finally comes time to say something, the employee feels blindsided with a litany of issues.”
2. Get a Room, You Two
When delivering a critical review, discretion is key. Tom Armour, a human resources specialist and co-founder of business consultancy High Return Selection, says negative feedback requires a specific time and place. “Do it privately and one-on-one,” he says. “Never give this type of criticism in an open forum.”
Ben Eubanks, a human resources generalist and blogger with upstartHR, says managers who have the greatest success coaching employees through their mistakes treat their staff like they themselves want to be treated. “Instead of having the discussion in a public place, they pull the person aside to show consideration for privacy,” says Eubanks.
You can have the discussion off-site, but know it may be awkward sitting across from a suddenly disgruntled employee while waiting for the bill.
3. Listen Up
Don’t start by talking; start by listening and soliciting information. Even if you don’t agree with what you hear, giving your direct report a chance to explain her side will instantly make her feel acknowledged and respected.
“When a boss gives an employee feedback, there’s immediately a status inequity, and we’re sensitive to status issues,” says business consultant and chief happiness officer Scott Crabtree of Happy Brain Science. He recommends asking employees “to assess what happened and what should be done about it” before making your own diagnosis and prescription.
4. Maintain Focus
It’s easy to let your opinion of someone’s performance bleed into an assessment of his personality—but don’t go there. “Addressing a mistake is really just a form of feedback,” says Katie Slater, a job coach with Career Infusion. “As such, feedback needs to be focused on behaviors or actions, not the person or personality.”
Slater says a manager should also emphasize fixing, not finger-pointing. “People often know when they’ve made a mistake. Treat them like adults and talk about it,” she says. “The point is not to blame or finger-point, but to figure out what went wrong and what can be done to fix it in the future.”
5. Give a Full Review
When you address errors, also compliment your employee for jobs well done. Crabtree sees it as a matter of science. “Studies indicate that when we receive three positive comments for every negative one, we feel safe and stay open to feedback,” he says. “Include good things in the discussion to keep the employee’s brain happy and receptive to feedback.”
You can even praise the effort behind an endeavor that ultimately didn’t work out. “A mistake is a sign that an employee was making things happen,” says Crabtree. “While this didn’t turn out perfectly, you generally want employees taking informed risks. If employees never make mistakes, they’re either doing too little or not taking enough risks.”
6. Include Your Employee in the Solution
Your direct report will be eager to discuss solutions—if only to take the focus off the problem—but she will also feel respected and empowered if she plays an active role in the corrective step. Involve her in conceiving the correction and implementing it.
Kathi Elster, a workplace consultant and co-author of Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, also advises “helping them figure out ways to avoid repeating the same mistake.” Her examples of such ways include proofreading more carefully, confirming appointments, taking more time to think things through and using interns and assistants for help.
7. Act on Behalf of the Team
Remember that how you handle a problem with a staff member will have reverberations with the entire department and company. “By addressing mistakes, you’ll often improve overall morale,” explains Slater. “Those who try to minimize mistakes and do good work will very much appreciate when things that go awry are addressed.”
Amy Feldman, general counsel for an international placement firm and a specialist in employment issues, agrees that there are indeed worse problems than making a poor-performing employee feel demoralized.
“While you may fear killing morale by being harsh, it’s the failure to deal with a difficult or terrible employee that’s the real morale killer for the rest of the office,” she says.
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