Driving workplace performance through high-quality conversations

Citation

Mitchell, S. (2013), "Driving workplace performance through high-quality conversations", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-08-2013-0084

Driving workplace performance through high-quality conversations

Article Type: HR at work From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 1

Short case studies and research papers that demonstrate best practice in HR

Numerous research studies over the years have attempted to answer the question “what constitutes successful leadership?” These studies have helped us learn a great deal about leadership success, including the competencies that align with leadership success and the personality facets that might enhance or inhibit performance. They’ve illuminated the most pressing challenges for tomorrow’s leaders and we’ve discovered that leaders today are challenged to foster innovation, focus on customer needs, develop long-term strategies, make countless day to day decisions and, at the same time, develop future talent (not an exhaustive list – unfortunately).

Linking leadership performance with inputs

These are all the “whats”, the objectives of leadership, but what about the “hows”, what leaders do to actually get things done? Exactly how should a successful leader operate day to day in order to bring about achievement of objectives? How should he or she make those decisions and develop strategies?

It is interesting to note that the “whats” (objectives) are outcomes and “hows” (competencies) are inputs. Measuring outcomes is arguably easier (witness the drive for SMART objectives), but they are only ever a lag indicator. More predictive of leadership performance are the lead indicators of competencies, or how the leader actually goes about delivering objectives.

Day to day interaction determines leadership success

Looking at the library of available research, one theme stands out: very little of what any manager or leader does is achieved by them alone. A leader’s success is built on the performance of their team and others around them. This may be pretty obvious but less evident is the fact that leadership outcomes will, to a great extent, depend on the dozens of conversations leaders have every day. Ergo the success of leadership will be determined by the effectiveness of these conversations.

So far, the argument is pretty straightforward. But here’s where we need to take a pause and consider what is actually happening out there in the business every day. The situation, frankly, is concerning. DDI’s latest research, Driving Workplace Performance Through High-Quality Conversations, highlights that leaders all around the world are simply lacking in the vital skills needed to have effective interactions with team members, subordinates, peers and other colleagues.

Evidence of low basic skills

Based on findings from the actual data of thousands of leaders who have been evaluated through DDI’s assessment centres, the research highlights that both executives and more junior leaders are less than proficient at many elements of what might be considered an essential, and basic, skill. We found that leaders are not effective at clarifying situations before acting on them, 90 per cent of leaders rely on their own ideas rather than seeking involvement from their team, and 89 per cent fail to listen or respond to interpersonal cues. There is often no clarity around next steps and only 5 per cent are effective in building trust in their interactions.

This study is also supported by DDI’s previous global research (Weaver and Mitchell, 2012), which found that 60 per cent of workers felt their manager had damaged their self-esteem at some point. So how bad are things really? The answer is – bad. Employees would rather suffer a bad hangover, do housework or see their credit card bill than face the prospect of sitting through a performance discussion with their boss. One in three respondents (34 per cent) said they only sometimes or never consider their leader to be effective, and well over a third (37 per cent) say they are only sometimes or never motivated to give their best by their leader. However, if they are working for their “best ever” leader, workers say they could be 20 to 60 per cent more productive.

How to improve leaders’ conversations

There are enormous benefits that can therefore be gained by improving the quality of leaders’ conversations in the workplace – better quality conversations equal more motivated and productive teams so this relatively straightforward skill can make a very large difference. In fact, according to the research quoted above, employees believe they would be hugely more productive (up to 60 per cent) if they were working for the best ever leader they had reported to rather than their manager today.

Figure 1 DDI's framework for developing leadership interactions

So what can organizations do to improve the quality of their leaders’ conversations and in turn drive greater organizational performance? Here are a few pointers that offer some practical guidance to tackle the issue:

1. Start with astute promotion and selection decisions. Some skills and many personality factors presented in the research are difficult, if not impossible, to change and according to other research by Manchester International (2001), 40 percent of leaders who are promoted fail within the first 18 months, so it is important to know what success actually looks like for a particular role in a particular organization. By defining what success in a role looks like, including what strengths are most important and highlighting derailing tendencies that need to be managed, an organization will save time and energy further down the line trying to fix an unfortunate placement decision. Employing robust assessment and selection tools will help to make effective selection and promotion decisions and ensure you have the right leaders in your pipeline from the start.

2. Provide access to frameworks and development that support effective interactions. Frameworks and tools exist that provide leaders with an effective way of managing their interactions. At the core of these frameworks are processes to facilitate effective interactions, techniques to effectively manage the personal needs of a conversation, and core listening and questioning skills – see Figure 1. Be clear that these are skills that can be developed. Leadership development initiatives can build the skills needed for effective interactions and provide leaders with the support and practice they will need before using them in the workplace.

3. Promote self-awareness. When placed in stressful situations, derailing tendencies such as emotional volatility, impulsivity, and avoidance of others can arise. Although hard-wired traits are very difficult to change, leaders can be taught to manage them successfully. To manage tendencies that could trip leaders up, individuals need to do the following:

* Explore the tangible impact of derailing personality patterns on interactions. For example, if a leader is required to review a business strategy or priority, consider the impact of a leader with an arrogant derailing tendency. If the leader comes across as intractable and wilful in meetings, and prevents others’ good ideas from surfacing, he or she will become a barrier to generating effective solutions.

* Heighten self-awareness and sustain improvement in managing derailers by creating an open environment and ensuring the use of feedback skills. Going further, a leadership team that has an understanding of their own, and each other’s derailment tendencies and the skills and receptivity to provide feedback, will be more successful at avoiding situations that trigger these potentially destructive behaviors.

4. Recognize the importance of practice. In our view leadership should be seen as a practice, not an ideology. Mastering leadership skills is like any other discipline; it takes time and practice. How often we will get it right comes down to the quality and the frequency of practice.

Simon Mitchell

References

Manchester International (2001), Why Are So Many Newly Promoted Managers & Executives Failing?, Author, Jacksonville, FL

Weaver, P. and Mitchell, S. (2012), Lessons for Leaders From The People Who Matter, Development Dimensions International, Pittsburgh, PA

About the author

Simon Mitchell is UK general manager, and European and Multinational Segment Marketing director at DDI, leading the European marketing team and marketing operations in the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Russia. His experience includes the design and delivery of executive assessment, development interventions and selection processes; high-potential identification and development; success profiling and competency analysis; general leadership development and succession planning. He has authored various publications including: Talent Beyond Borders – An Organisational Guide to Delivering the Promise of Global Talent Management, Lessons for Leaders from the People Who Matter, Global Sales Perceptions Research, Failing the Interview and Leaders in Transitions: Stepping up not off. Simon Mitchell can be contacted at: mailto:simon.mitchell@ddiworld.com