Know your team members — beyond the obvious
She almost quit. Well, technically, she did quit. Looking back now, the solution was so simple. But when you find yourself in this moment of panic, sometimes it’s hard to understand how you got there in the first place.
Let me back up. Every quarter, I host a Townhall at caa. Aside from updating the company on how we performed the quarter before and explaining our goals for the remainder of the year, I also address questions and comments from the anonymous survey sent out to our team members. The topics of the survey vary each Townhall, but this time, the survey focused on how management can best communicate with their team. Overwhelmingly, 70%, said no matter what the feedback is, they prefer one on ones.
caa went 100% virtual last summer. The transition has been smooth for the most part as we already had a company culture of hybrid and remote work. However, in this ever growing world of disconnection and disenfranchisement, I find that you can never rest on your laurels. I am proud that we have built a strong, virtual office where our team members feel supported even though they work alone. However, let me bring us back to how I started this article.
At the time, this particular team member was struggling to meet her goals consistently. While we saw a way out, we had to put her on a performance improvement plan to ensure a successful outcome. While nervous, she welcomed the measures of the PIP as she is the type of team member who wants to grow and learn. While some people might have crumbled under this pressure, she did not. Or so we thought.
At first, we saw some real improvement. On the management side, we were excited! This was heading in the right direction.
But although she had the brave face, there were some major concerns that she didn’t reveal, and it all came to a head in a conversation with her direct manager, and the revelation that she was ready to hand in her notice.
I quickly circled up with her manager. How could we be in this spot? How could we have gotten this so wrong? Everything seemed like it was on the right course.
After some probing, we realized that most of our touch points were in the reports that she was required to complete under her PIP. While the numbers looked good, we were unaware of her emotional state during this time.
And so her manager sat down with her, again. Putting work to the side, the manager asked how she was really doing. She led from the heart. They talked about some personal pressure the team member was under, some family commitments that she needed to travel for, and the worry she had that she wouldn’t be able to because she was on her PIP. It would cause her immense sadness and pain. As my manager listened to her, she started to find more solutions than problems.
What did we know? She was improving. She was obtaining her goals. And while she wasn’t completely out of the woods, her communication and reporting were excellent. Of course, we could work with her and find a solution.
We presented the revised performance improvement plan, allowing her to take the time off and recharge. We took a moment to discuss her future and where we saw her career heading. It was a fabulous opportunity for us to learn more about her and for her to know more about us.
In the end, the solution was easy: know your team. Don’t just know the arguably “easy” things: their job description, what they do with the company, their numbers, and all the rest. Know them personally. Of course as much as appropriate! Ask them: What is most important to you? What are your personal goals vis-à-vis your professional goals, and how can I help you obtain them? What is important to you right now? What is a goal of yours in the next five to 10 years? These questions will start valuable discussions on how you can best connect with your team and either help correct and guide during challenging times or motivate and cheerlead during the good times.
When I think about the responses to this particular Townhall survey, I am delighted to see that the value of one-on-ones is across all positions and all levels at caa. And I’m certain in your company, as well!
