CLIENT SERVICING

1. Demonstrates a breadth and depth of knowledge of our services / products

2. Applies sound professional practices (as agreed / set down in …)

3. Provides advice which peers / manager would consider appropriate

4. Produces accurate advice / strategic plans that address the client’s needs

5. Gains the confidence of the client by demonstrating that the advice given has been accepted and applied

6. Applies a range of strategies which have contributed to developing long-term relationships with clients

7. Demonstrates a full understanding of the clients business

8. Effectively uses time and resources so that commitments made to the client are achieved and deadlines met

9. Client feedback reflects a high level of satisfaction     

Would you like to see more descriptions of behavioural performance objectives? Then take a look at ‘The Managers Toolkit – 176 Behavioural Performance Objectives’ http://www.10mmt.com/e-books/ A gold mine of information and a quick and easy way to describe what you want from your staff so that you can get what you need from your staff

Joan Henshaw is the author and presenter of the video management training series ‘The 10 Minute Management Toolkit’ – the flexible, cost effective and time effective way to help managers learn how to motivate their staff to high performance. Want to learn more about how to motivate staff to high performance? Watch videos and claim your free e-book at http://www.10mmt.com

As an example, a client has recently asked me to develop a ‘Leadership Skills’ training programme and to outline a plan for ensuring that the learning from the programme would lead to the delegates improving their leadership behaviours.

This is a summary of the plan I have designed for them:

The Plan

Step 1: Define what ‘Leadership Skills’ means at Agency A.

Step 2: Develop performance standards that describe what leadership skills look like in practice.

Step 3: Assess the delegates’ current skills and competency against the performance standards.

Step 4: Prioritise and define as learning objectives the outcomes from the assessment.

Step 5: Design and deliver the training. Introduce the leadership skills performance standards as part of the training. Deliver the training in three sessions with the delegates implementing the skills learnt in each session as workplace projects.

Step 6: Provide coaching to delegates as they implement the skills in the workplace projects.

Step 7: Deliver a review workshop that includes:

1. The identification of any ongoing learning needs and how these will be met.
2. Communicating how the performance standards will be integrated into the performance review system.

Step 8: Ongoing coaching of the delegates by their line manager and management of performance against the leadership performance standards.

Summary

The key is in anchoring the training and learning to performance standards which are then integrated into the performance review system. This means the application of the learning from the training into the workplace is a ‘must do’ rather than, as is sometimes the case, an optional activity. Supporting the delegates in their practice of the skills is, of course, vital.

“The process of getting activities completed efficiently with and through other people”

“The process of planning, leading, organizing and controlling people within a group in order to achieve goals”

“The activity of getting things done with the aid of people and other resources”

By way of contrast, take a look at this definition of management from Myron Rush:

“Management is meeting the needs of people as they work to accomplish their jobs”

Here we have the manager using their authority and power not to control but to serve the people they manage. So the manager is cast as the willing servant. That’s what I call different.

Rush proposes that:

“As the manager gives themselves to serving the needs of those under them they will make a happy discovery. People will voluntarily, eagerly, and continually meet their needs in return”

Too good to be true? Well maybe. But the more I reflect on this definition, the more inspiring I find it. On a practical level I see it as both a powerful and empowering management style, particularly in light of the research around the challenges of managing ‘Generation Y’ employees (more of which in future posts).

Within the context of employee engagement, who wouldn’t feel more engaged when working with a manager who’s main purpose was to help them meet their needs?

Would it be realistic to expect managers to take on the role of servant? A real challenge, of course, but I’m guessing there are many managers who would welcome the opportunity to work more collaboratively with their staff particularly if this style brought some of the ‘happy discovery’ that Rush proposes.

Here she talks about her experience of working with me, the impact it has had on her staff’s performance and, importantly, the impact it has had on her confidence and wellbeing.

Over to Sara….

Taking the right steps with Ladder Consulting

I am the kind of person that finds it easier just to do it myself instead of relying on my staff to do the work. What that means for me is that I am always overworked and tired. What it means for my staff is that they are not challenged and I tend to go through staff without really knowing why.

I met Joan through my business (she’s a member of the gym I own) and one day I happened to mention that I was having staffing issues and she asked me how I managed my staff. I said ‘what do you mean manage my staff? At this point I am just happy that they show up for work.’ And to be honest they are very reliable in that aspect of working for me!

Joan suggested that we meet outside of my place of business and discuss some steps I could take to improve my situation.

I have had different kinds of managers throughout my varied career; micro managers that watch every thing I do; selfish managers that never seem to be there for the staff.

I wanted to be the kind of boss that staff respected and wanted to be a part of my team. So therefore I set out to befriend my staff and let them pretty much do their own thing as long as the job was getting done. But as I said earlier, that meant that I was left to do most of the work.

After my first meeting with Joan I asked her to work with me to help improve the situation. Through the consulting sessions with her I learned that although I was friends with my staff, I did not expect anything from them. I had no set performance standards for my staff so they really did not know what was expected from them. I had staff that gave me exactly what I asked for — nothing!

So with Joan’s help, we designed performance standards that were clear and quantifiable. I started by listing all the duties that I wanted my staff to perform. Joan helped me to categorise and word them in a way that enabled me to communicate to my staff exactly what is expected of them. The performance standards also allow me to evaluate my staff in a professional manner.

Joan coached me through the first meeting where I presented these performance standards to my staff and truly helped me to clearly communicate and engage with them. I had immediate positive feedback from my staff and even enthusiasm for the job they needed to do.

Our workplace is a more positive and fun place to work. Everyone is clear on what is expected of them and the work is now getting done by the people who should be doing the work — my staff.

I am less tired and stressed and I finally feel I am building confidence in myself as a manager.

Would you like to achieve some of the results Sara has achieved? You can trial, for free, a tele-consulting session with Joan.

Contact me and I will send you details of how the sessions work, what you can expect to achieve and how to book a session.

Related posts

• Are you clear on what you want from the people you manage? Are they?
• Managing by numbers is easy — but how do I manage behaviours?