This great article by Gabriella O'Rourke lists 10 ways to engage employees and help them to increase their performance as well.
From taking accountability for your own actions to remembering peoples names, there are some great tips in here for managers wanting to make a difference through developing these ‘softer’ management skills.
Of particular interest to me is point 6: ‘Help them discover their strengths’ and even more so point 7: ‘Ask for feedback’. Whilst all managers want to bring out the best in their employees, how many would know how to do this? And how many have a comfortable enough relationship with their team to be able to get some really honest feedback on their abilities?
Of course, there are some incredibly talented managers out there who can do these things without any help. For the rest of us though, there is 360 degree feedback.
360 degree feedback is perfectly designed to do exactly what Gabriella describes in her ten tips. The competency based questions will help to highlight individual employees particular strengths and skills. This will help their managers to make the most of the talent they have within their teams whilst also showing them where they can support those employees in the areas they are less confident.
At the same time, the upward feedback gives employees a structured means of giving honest opinions about their managers without fear of reprisal. Results from 360 degree feedback surveys can be used to structure training, coaching and mentoring in the future to improve the performance of the team overall. There is nothing more engaging for employees than seeing their opinions not only listened to, but also acted upon.