Why Managers fear giving Performance Evaluations?

Most managers (if not all) dread when the time comes to giving performance evaluations to their employees. This begs the question why? This should not be such a fearful process. After all, aren't managers also supposed to be coaches? Isn't this the time for employee growth and development? Shouldn't performance evaluation be the time where managers can be proud of their coaching skills?

 

       Well, there is only one explanation of why this happens. These managers don't give direct feedback to the employees all year round and wait for the yearly performance evaluation. Talking about performance evaluation of the employee only once a year is not the way to go about it. Some companies have started doing mid-year evaluations. Even if companies don't mandate a mid-year performance evaluation, managers should make it a habit to give feedback to the employee throughout the course of the working year.

     The feedback should not come as a surprise to the employee at the performance evaluation time. If the feedback is a surprise, that would certainly make the process difficult and dreadful. Coaching the employees is one of the most rewarding skills for a manager, and they should make it work for both themselves as well as the employees.

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Aditi Chopra is an experienced leader in the software industry.
She is a consultant, writer and a leader.
 LinkedIn |  Web |  Twitter | Books

5 ways to build trust with employees

Trust is a critical component of managing your employees. It takes time and effort to build trust, but once it is established, it can be very rewarding for the manager and makes the team very productive.

Here are five key ways of building trust with your employees:

• Provide Support when needed. Don't be an obstacle. Instead, take hindrances out of their way and make the working environment as supportive as possible for your employees to do their job. They should feel like you have their back no matter what comes.
• Enable personal development for career growth via coaching and mentoring. Encourage a frank dialogue with all your employees for developmental growth. Needless to say, it should be done in a manner, so it doesn’t come off as criticism but rather a value add to their skill set and personality.
• Never micro-manage. No employee likes to be micro-managed.
• Reward, reward and reward. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of rewarding good work. Rewards need not be in the monetary form, find creative ways of rewarding your employees.
• Be open and available and encourage a two-way open communication. Employees should feel that they can reach out to you, and your doors are always open for them.
  
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  Aditi Chopra is an experienced leader in the software industry.
  She is a consultant, writer and a leader.
   LinkedIn |  Web |  Twitter | Books

Importance of Self Awareness

Emotional intelligence is the best thing that has happened to explaining leadership in a long time. If you haven't, you must read this book by Daniel Goleman

      My favorite emotional intelligence aspect is Self Awareness. Self Awareness is the hardest of all aspects to develop. I wouldn't think anyone is born with Self Awareness but how and when they acquire it can make a big difference in their lives. As a leader, this quality can be extremely useful and can make one a very effective leader.

      There are so many ways, one can use Self Awareness to their advantage. As a leader, if you are self aware, you would know your strengths and weakness very well and so when you are assembling a team, you would want to hire people with complementary strengths to yours. This way you can build a stronger team and get the work done most effectively.

     Self awareness also teaches us that no one is perfect. We all have our unique strengths and weaknesses. Those looking for perfection in themselves or others will soon realize that it is not a quality they should be looking for when hiring people.

      Another way self awareness works for you as a leader is it makes you more open to taking feedback and/or criticism in a healthy way. Without self awareness, one tends to be defensive and cannot accept feedback in stride. Accepting feedback is the key to improving yourself.

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Aditi Chopra is an experienced leader in the software industry.
She is a consultant, writer and a leader.
 LinkedIn |  Web |  Twitter | Books