reveal + remark: the simplest way to improve employee performance (that you probably aren’t doing)
Typically, when an underperforming employee isn’t improving despite your best efforts, the next move is to transfer or terminate them. But what if you can’t?
For businesses today dealing with high turnover and struggling to fill job vacancies, firing poor performers in favor of more qualified candidates may simply not be an option. In fact, while quit rates have hit record highs, recent numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that people in recent years have been laid off or fired at significantly lower rates compared to the same time period in 2019 and 2020.
So, what do you do if you have employees who are struggling or checked out, but you need to make it work?
Traditional management tactics like constructive criticism or feedback often miss the mark, at best resulting in adequacy over excellence—or, at worst, causing a rift between manager and employee. Plus, one-on-one coaching can take a significant amount of bandwidth while delivering minimal results.
Alternatively, praise is an effective management tool used in many organizations for improving relationships, engagement and satisfaction. Receiving praise can make people feel good and improve morale, which we hope will somehow translate to better outcomes.
However, ordinary praise offers little value in terms of what actually matters here: improving day-to-day performance and changing employee behavior forever. To accomplish these objectives, it’s necessary to go beyond compliments to provide a different kind of recognition.
Reveal and Remark: The Secret to Lasting Performance Improvement
There’s a formula for offering praise that can radically transform behavior and performance permanently. It’s what I call “Reveal and Remark,” and all it takes is pointing out the connection between someone’s tiny, positive choices and better outcomes.
Not only does this simple act improve performance, but it will also increase your leadership influence and improve your relationships with team members. And the best part? It shouldn’t take you longer than 30 minutes per week, max. (Yes, really.)
How it Works
Let’s say you have one employee who always shows up late to your morning kickoff meeting. Maybe it’s the only thing he actually does consistently. But one week, he’s late every day but one. On that day, reveal his choice and remark on it.
Say something like, “I noticed you arrived at our morning meeting on time today. Because you did that, it allowed us to get started earlier and boosted the efficiency and productivity of the whole team.”
To those who are repulsed (Are you kidding? I’m giving props to someone for meeting expectations one time, when he otherwise ignores them?), I’ll say two things. First, dDon’t heap on the praise—just note the behavior and connect it to a positive outcome. You can do it right then, or later in an email.
Second: note how, with one simple comment, the employee begins thinking to himself:
“When I made even a tiny effort to do something better, it was important. Someone noticed. Maybe it’s worthwhile to do that more?”
“My boss is paying much closer attention to my contribution than I thought. When I try harder, it’s not a waste of time.”
“It felt good hearing that just now. I’d like that to happen again.”’
“Feeling like a success versus a failure is that easy? Maybe I should try that again.”
If you were in fact repulsed, that’s normal. It also probably means that this employee knows their behavior displeases you, which probably means they’ve already given up on pleasing you a long time ago. But wWhen you make your approval widely accessible, even to poor performers, more people will start doing more things right. When you’re the boss, the only people not seeking your approval constantly are those who are pretty sure they can’t get it. My advice: prove them wrong.
Why it Works
There is nothing more effective for improving employee performance than the personal experience of doing something correctly. This is what we provide when we reveal someone's positive choice to them. And there is nothing more lasting than an emotional memory, which is what happens when we remark on the tangible impact of that behavior.
✓ Revealing exposes behavioral choices made in real time, making them easier to repeat.
✓ Remarking turns those behaviors into a positive memory, creating a desire to repeat them.
✓ Doing both consistently and publicly seeds a new identity within strugglers, who begin to view themselves as high performers and strive to live up to the positive reputation they’re earning with their choices.
Adopting this approach isn’t difficult, but there are a few things to keep in mind to achieve the desired impact.
-Ben
