Performance from a behavioral aspect

Since I've volunteered to give a class on assessment centers, 360 evaluations and their use in promotion decisions and strategic hiring, I found this information helpful.  For those of us who are seeking management positions, these points are critical in preparing for your interviews.  It appears this consultant is selling a assessment & coaching training product but the principles discussed are nonetheless valid.  Where this author points out the behavioral aspects of leadership, I start out at the organizational performance level measuring leadership from a Baldrige Performance Results perspective and then provide next steps in one's search for organizational excellence.  The HR piece is only one of 7 parts of the review.  When it is determined that there is a gap in management talent search and talent management, the points discussed below are appropriate.

Feature Article by Kirk A Young, Job Match Expert:Six Keys to Unlocking the Potential of Frontline Managers

The effects of poor frontline management may be particularly damaging at service companies, where researchers have consistently detected a relationship between the attitudes and behaviors of customer-facing employees on the one hand, and customer perception of service quality on the other. In service industries, research has found that three factors drive performance: the work climate; the ways teams act together and the ways that things are done; and the engagement, commitment, and satisfaction of employees. Leadership—particularly the quality of supervision and the nature of the relationships between supervisors and their teams—is crucial to performance in each of these areas. We have identified Six Keys to Unlocking the Potential of Frontline Managers 1. Identify employees with the capability and interest to be good managers by: Using assessments to identify employees who demonstrate the behaviors and interests that will make them successful managers. Helping managers understand the core behaviors, capabilities, and preferences of the people they manage so that they can adapt their communication and management styles to get the most from their people. Helping managers develop the mindset that they will be more successful if the people they manage succeed. This helps managers become invested in the success of each individual. 2. Help managers clarify their teams’ goals and roles by: Using these goals to create a personal "dashboard" that helps the manager set his own priorities that drive results. Require the manager to update his goals weekly, and use his progress to facilitate a coaching discussion. Finally, check back with the manager on a periodic basis to ensure that his priorities and the individuals on his team are properly aligned. Creating tools to help your managers communicate these requirements and track progress toward these goals. Seek direct input from frontline employees in the form of employee surveys and 360° management assessments to determine if the message is getting through. Finally, encourage open communication between employees and their managers in order to clarify job requirements and eliminate work that doesn’t add sufficient value. 3. When helping managers better understand the people they manage, consider these points: Human beings are complex creatures that can be very hard for the average manager to read, especially in the early stages of the working relationship. Ironically, this is when the manager needs the most help. A valid assessment process can be very helpful for an organization to develop a deeper and more objective understanding of its people. Helping a manager to understand his people’s skills, behaviors, and interests helps him build on his people’s strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. It helps the manager communicate better with the employee, zero in on the employee’s most critical developmental needs, and focus both informal coaching dialogue and formal training and development investments in the employee. 4. Help your managers understand themselves and how they impact their people. Management is all about people, and this requires a high degree of self-awareness. Managers should go through the same assessment process as their employees in order to understand how their innate behaviors, interests, and skills either complement or hinder their personal interactions. It is also extremely valuable for managers to receive feedback from multiple constituents, including their supervisors, peers, and subordinates, to illuminate developmental needs, misalignments, and other issues that may be difficult to communicate openly under challenging circumstances. 5. Don’t assume your managers know how or even when to coach. These two action steps can help: Develop the fundamental coaching skills of your managers, and develop a culture of coaching. Help your manager understand his leadership style and motivation. Many of us have a number of key leadership qualities, but we still need feedback so that we can build on our strengths and fortify our weaknesses. In some cases where it is clear that a manager really isn’t ready to lead, the discovery process can help identify other career options that are better suited to his style and abilities. 6. Minimize administrative work to give managers more time to develop their people by: Thinking very carefully about the administrative tasks you assign to your frontline managers and be sure that they add sufficient value. Consider capturing fewer but more essential indicators. Making the information easy to obtain so that they aren’t spending too much time aggregating and formatting spreadsheets and making presentation decks look pretty. Providing administrative support and either investing in tools or simplifying the exercise so that it can be completed in a very short period of time. Minimize formal meeting times and administrative interruptions.