How Am I Doing?

Measuring Up

Jason, project manager for an electrical contractor in Vancouver, Washington, told session eight of the Leadership Development Lab:

"I have one employee in particular that has voiced his need to know how he is doing on jobs and his general overall performance. I realized that this is likely something that all of our employees would like to know but rarely say so.

"The first thing I did was bring this employee, James, in and had an hour-long meeting with him. We went over his last ten jobs so he could see where the majority of his time was spent. He was very pleased to see that all of the jobs he had worked on have exceeded the 20% of cost that is needed for our company to make a profit and cover all overhead. (Just to be clear, we didn't share the actual percentage made since this is not something shared with non-management employees.)

"Throughout the meeting I could see the smile on his face grow as we went along. This was a very empowering meeting to recharge his overall happiness and it seemed to give him a greater sense of being a big part of our team.

"It was very obvious that this personal meeting fed his need to know how he was performing. In addition to the meeting, we gave him a copy of "Repeat Business: Six Steps to Superior Customer Service" to read on his own. This book has great examples of the principles we value and supports the principals our company is based on, and why our company has grown over the years. I could easily see it was important for us to share our ideals with him and for him to know the score. We want all of our employees to feel like a part of the family.

"The lesson I learned from this experience is the extreme importance of clear communication about expectations and performance. I learned the importance of keeping the team informed of the score, and I see more clearly that when I engage with our employees they feel like an important part of the team. Since this meeting, we are bringing in each employee and having a personal meeting providing them with their personal copy of "Repeat Business."

"The action I call you to take is have a face to face meeting with each of your employees. Personally engage in meaningful conversation with all of your team members on all issues. Clarify your values, target, and goals.

"The benefit you will gain is more loyal employees that feel wanted and important. They will renew their willingness to take charge and make the extra effort required to beat the bid.