How To Have High Performance Conversations

"To some degree, the minute you assume the role of boss you’ll be fighting preconceptions.” Kim Scott

It’s true that, as a leader, you potentially have to work twice as hard to build trust. There’s already a high level of suspicion towards you courtesy of your position. 

Right now, this is perhaps exacerbated by the sheer demands placed on workers to adapt quickly and stay productive in a rapidly changing world.

And whilst 87% of employees feel that they’re being productive, only 12% of leaders believe that they are. This could be creating a little “productivity paranoia.”

When you add to this that 49% of employees have an underlying worry that AI will take their jobs, this intensifies.

It’s a horrible feeling when you suspect that someone doesn’t think that you’re doing a very good job. It’s worse, when it remains a feeling and isn’t addressed openly, transparently and with care.

The huge difference in employer employee perceptions with regards to productivity leads me to question whether enough high performance conversations are happening in our organisations.

As leaders, are we addressing our productivity challenges directly or are we just getting quietly frustrated by them? All the while, workers are none the wiser. Maybe just a little suspicious about what their leaders REALLY think.

This communication gap HAS to be addressed. But too often, employees are left in the dark wondering.

Leaders must model exceptional communication. Every day.

The single most important way for leaders to break down this distrust is how they show up every day. There’s no shortcut.

It requires a relentless investment in relationships.

People and relationships ARE the job; they don’t get in the way of the job. We have to be intentional in allocating the time to it. If it means actually blocking it into the diary, so be it. The odd one-to-one or social event outside of work won’t cut it. 

People have to feel in their gut that you care, and they have to feel that you’re entirely authentic.

If leaders are able to define concise values for the organisation, communicate them clearly and, most importantly, model these values every day in their interactions, this goes a long way to establishing that authenticity and breaking down that distrust.

Those who strongly agree that their organisation’s leaders are committed to their cultural values are 10.5X more likely to agree that they feel connected to their organisation’s culture.

We’ve spoken at length about the huge impact that employee engagement has on their productivity. And leaders have such an important role to play in going there first, creating and modelling cultures of authenticity and trust.

The conditions for high performance conversations:

Crucially, when leaders build cultures that are rooted in trust, they create the conditions for the all important, honest conversations about productivity to take place. And all of the time.

Clearly these conversations need to happen, given the current gap in perceptions, with 87% of workers feeling that they’re productive, whilst only 12% of leaders believing that they are.

If these conversations come out of nowhere, driven by leaders who haven’t demonstrated that they care about their teams beyond their output, they’re unlikely to be the most productive or progressive.

It’s likely that the subject of the feedback will have their guard up, focussing their energies on defending themselves, as opposed to being open and focused on the opportunities to learn and grow.

On the other hand, when leaders have SHOWN that they care through their interactions EVERY DAY, they create the conditions for high performance conversations. Conversations that come from a mindset of growth, as opposed to survival.

Make it 2 way:

This is absolutely essential if we really want employees to truly invest in these relationships, feel empowered and partners in finding solutions - as opposed to productivity droids.

When employees feel that they have the platform to provide open and honest feedback, they’re 6.1X more likely to feel comfortable and invested in changes taking place at work.

However, currently, only 1 in 4 employees globally feel that their opinion counts at work, and only 8% strongly agree that their organisation takes action on engagement surveys.

There’s a level of distrust that can be broken down by creating intentional spaces for employees to speak up and share ideas. And crucially, in the aftermath, leaders must make a commitment to take action, or at least communicate transparently about why not.

So, a little guidance to affect right away:

The challenge of addressing employee disengagement and driving productivity is a complex one. There’s no one size fits all magic solution. However, in my mind, there’s no doubt that the best answers will lie in how our leaders show up every day, investing in their team relationships and creating the conditions for high trust, high performance communication.

1. Embrace relationship-building as part of your job

2. Factor in time in your diary every day to listen and speak to your people

3. Start with you and invite criticism from your team by establishing a regular process where it can happen

4. Once you’ve truly clarified and understood the criticism, act on it.

5. Don’t wait for formal appraisals to give feedback - when it might be too late. Share it as soon as possible, with the general rule being: praise in public; criticise in private.