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No one would mistake me for a finance professional.
But I do recognize the value of flow-through.
A standard measure of fiscal efficiency, it provides confidence that what’s being generated on the top line will find its way to the bottom line where promises are realized, and dreams can come true.
Imagine if we applied a similar science to the promise of our culture.
What if there was an efficient method of ensuring our top line retention, development, and engagement strategies were actually making it to the front-line, building a level of confidence among the people with the best opportunity to make dreams come true?
Spoiler alert . . . it’s called feedback.
As simple as it sounds, sharing insightful and impactful feedback is a soft skill many leaders struggle to develop. What begins as observed performance or behavior is overlooked as an opportunity to transition the potential of “what could be” into the reality of “what is.”
Teams and individuals are left to discover their own emotional connection to the values, beliefs, and customs of a brand, without the benefit of positive or corrective critique.
These quick feedback tips will ensure your culture is flowing through to your front-line talent:
Standards Are Standards, Not Suggestions
Your standards exist for a reason: they identify expected performance behaviors that define your brand, product, or service experience.
Because this is between you and me, please be honest: Do you know what your standards are?
Not just the poster on the breakroom wall or a page in your handbook, but do you understand what they represent and what to look for from a higher perspective?
When you can answer “Yes”, then both role model and uniformly enforce expected behaviors through feedback.
Your team should expect nothing less and will develop a deeper respect for your discipline and consistency.
Focus on the Behavior, Not the Person
While feedback should remain a personal experience, your intention going into this critical conversation must remain focused on the behavior rather than the inherent qualities of the person involved.
Just as a ship veering off course isn’t any less seaworthy, having a challenging shift doesn’t render Tommy a menace to society.
Address your observations and performance results, then ask clarifying questions to overcome obstacles, gaining a shared commitment before closing the conversation.
Share An Emotionally Intelligent Conversation
Let’s be real: You’re looking for an emotional commitment to improve or correct observed behavior, or to explore the potential for exceeding the expected.
Don’t let emotion derail your ambitions.
Recognize in advance that growth can be an emotionally chaotic process. Leverage your empathic influence to remain both resilient and agile, allowing emotions to be expressed without losing sight of your original intent.
Connect Experience to Values
Values exist to inspire behavior.
Consider some of the more time-honored and frequently used organizational values: integrity, trust, honesty, humility, etc.
People connect to those and readily understand the value, and the consequences involved if their behavior strays from the path. For example, if someone was caught taking money from the tip jar or fudging their hours, they probably knew it was an integrity violation before they did it.
Other values may not be so readily understood or interpreted.
I supported a luxury hotel brand whose Core Values included Uplifting. The handbook offered a definition, but it came nowhere close to influencing the daily behaviors of front-line professionals.
It was discussion and feedback that connected individuals to the value’s intended influence on their behavior.
Any time an experience offered incredible attention to detail, created a sense of holistic well-being, or displayed a strong sense of care for another, those behaviors were related back to the value of Uplifting.
We discussed how experiences are made to be shared, examining the resultant influence on both the guest receiving the service and the associate delivering it.
To no surprise, it was often the same result: cared for and loved, both very Uplifting emotions.
Like any soft skill, improving your ability to share insightful and impactful feedback requires practice. Solicit feedback in return . . . you’ll want to ensure your values and beliefs are flowing-through to the people who need it most.
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