Great Expectations

October 6, 2017 | By Scott Stevens & Vanessa Wilson, Vitil

Your employees are not doing it right. You are frustrated and impatient. How hard is it to do something just the way you want it done, the way that it needs to be done and the way that you have explained it (many times)?

Is that how you as a Perth business owner feels sometimes? Are you not sure which way to turn? Perth's boutique Human Resource Services firm, Vitil HR, have some advice that will help.

Although you may have communicated with your team clearly, you need to ensure it has been understood, and this is the main cause for Perth businesses where wasted time and energy leads to frustration on both sides. And as the saying goes 'when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me'.

Our Human Resource Services team are asked many times; so how do you make sure your expectations are understood and are being met?

For any HR team, having inductions, job descriptions, policies, procedures, buddy or mentoring programs, training plans, setting KPI's - are all tools that can be used to assist when setting up your Human Resources Services plan and laying out your expectations, but with many of these there is no guarantee that your message has been received and understood.

There are many strategies you might employ to validate that your message has been understood and that this understanding translates into performance. Here are a couple of ideas:

Plan your conversation so you do not omit an important piece of information, like the time you need the task completed by or the form of communication you require. There is a big difference between 'I need those reports today' and 'I need those reports emailed to me by 3pm'.

Have your instructions or communications repeated back to ensure understanding, simply asking 'ok so just so we are both clear can you tell me what you are going to do' can clear up any misunderstandings before the task begins saving time and frustration.

Use the EDIT strategy, where you:

Explain - your expectations
Demonstrate - what and how you expect it to be performed
Imitate – observe your team member complete the task up to your expected standard
Test – have them perform the task autonomously and provide feedback.

While you might be reading this and thinking 'I don't have time to do this' consider that once the expectation is understood and performed, your team member will have an understanding of what is required and will be able to perform their role with greater autonomy.

The benefit is that your employees will need less supervision, feel more empowered, you'll experience fewer performance problems and you have a team with increased engagement and productivity.

Once your team understand your expectations and perform accordingly, they become role models that teach new team members. As a Human Resource Professional, Manager or Business Owner in Perth, it is important to note you must also consistently practice what you preach, this is particularly relevant in relation to behavioural expectations.

In summarising, don't assume people know what or how you want something done. Take the time to make sure expectations are detailed, clear and understood. The benefits in the long run will be worth it.

Vitil Human Resources

Vitil's Perth based Human Resource consultants are HR professionals who can assist in ensuring you have the strategies in place to communicate your expectations clearly and that these expectations support your business strategy and drive a performance culture.

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