The higher up in an organization you are the less you know about what is really going on.
When your direct reports and their teams prepare an update for you, they make sure to portray progress on deliverables and hurdles to success in a way that is sanitized.
Sanitized means made more palatable by the removal of elements that are likely to be unacceptable or controversial. In other words, you aren’t getting the real story about what is going on.
Some senior leaders have skip-level meetings to get an understanding of reality.
A skip-level meeting is a meeting where a manager’s manager meets directly with employees. The manager of that group of employees does not attend the meeting. Employee attendance is not mandatory.
You facilitate the discussion with the intention of listening to the employees, so they feel Seen, Heard, Understood, Valued, and Appreciated. (Thank you, Patty Beach, for the SHUVA acronym.)
Skip-level meetings work best if you have a list of questions prepared.
1. Are there resources you need to perform better?
2. What can I do to help you in the next 30 days?
3. Now let’s think longer term. What would help you the most in the next year?
4. What are the roadblocks stopping you from getting work done?
5. How do you feel about where the company is going?
6. Do you have other concerns I should be aware of?
7. As you know, we have prioritized the following three goals as a company. X, Y, and Z. Your department impacts these goals by delivering A and B. What are the obstacles that are getting in the way of delivering A and B?
At the end of the year there are typically two areas of focus for senior leaders.
The first is an assessment of past performance. What did we accomplish? Was that aligned to the goals we established at the beginning of the year? What could we have done better?
And the next is a look toward the future. What are our priorities in the new year? What does my team need to help us reach these goals? What are the obstacles getting in the way? What don’t I know that I need to know?
So, recognize the sanitized updates you are typically given and set up some skip-level meetings. What you learn may cause you to adjust the performance ratings you assign to your direct reports and your merit increase and bonus payout decisions.
#performance #compensation #leadership #hr #humanresources #hr #rewards