Being Visible

April 28, 2005

Do you know when your employees are doing a good job and when they're not?

For example, if one of your employees were to put forth an extra effort to help out a customer, would you be aware of it? Or if she gave up her lunch break in order to complete an important assignment before the deadline, would you know about it?

Conversely, if an employee was rude to a customer, would it ever come to your attention? Perhaps if the customer complained, you might eventually hear about it. But, how often does that happen?

The fact is, it can be difficult to know for sure how well your employees are actually performing in the job. If you're like most managers, supervising others isn't the only thing you do. You have your own work assignments to keep you busy. Consequently, you aren't always aware of what your employees are doing - or not doing - on any given day.

In addition, it's not always easy to tell when employees are doing a good job because the work itself is highly specialized. In fact, some managers aren't even clear about what it is their employees do, exactly.

And if you happen to supervise a particularly large number of people, or oversee multiple locations, you're at an even greater disadvantage because you rarely even see your employees.

This poses a real challenge. How are you supposed to evaluate people's job performance if you aren't close to it? And how can you give positive reinforcement to employees for demonstrating exemplary behavior if you aren't there to witness that behavior first-hand?

Unfortunately, you can't always know for sure if your employees are performing well or not at any particular time unless you observe their behavior yourself. There is no substitute for being there and watching people as they perform the job tasks.

Therefore, you have to make an effort to be visible, or at least stay in close touch with your employees. Here are a few ideas on how you can do it.

1. Take a walk through your department on a regular basis. Observe people while they are at work. Watch for desired behaviors you'd like repeated and provide instant feedback and recognition. "Sandy, that was a wonderful friendly greeting you just gave the customer. Good job!" If you observe behaviors in need of improvement, make a note to follow up with the employee at a later date to discuss it privately.
    
2. Talk with employees about their work. Ask them to show you samples, if appropriate. Simply showing an interest in your employees' work can have a dramatic effect on their satisfaction with the job and their eagerness to perform well.
    
3. Make these visits part of your routine. Add it to your To-Do List or put it on your calendar to visit with employees on a regular basis at their work location - not in your office.
    
4. If your employees are spread out geographically, schedule frequent telephone conversations with them. The calls don't need to be lengthy. Tell the employee you're just checking in with them and ask if there is anything you should know about.
    
5. Make it a point to talk with customers or the people served by your employees. Ask them specific questions to determine how well (or poorly) each employee is performing. For example, "Were your questions answered satisfactorily? Did you receive prompt service"? and so on. Be sure to forward any favorable comments to the employee, along with your own words of appreciation.
    

It can sometimes be difficult to know for sure how well your employees are performing in the job due to time pressures and other constraints. However, you can greatly improve your odds of getting it right by observing employee behavior yourself.

In addition, by being more visible to your employees, you'll be encouraging them to perform well and you're more likely to become aware of potential problems earlier in the process while there is still time to fix them. That makes you more knowledgable and more in control.

Best regards,

Stephen Foster, Ph.D
Expert Supervisor, LLC
1493 Market Street
Tallahassee, FL 32312
(850) 893-5699

E-mail me at: Steve.Foster@ExpertSupervisor.com