Synopsis
Perhaps the greatest workplace challenge is determining how to find meaning, value, and reward in the relatively small role you may play in an organization. Your contribution may seem diminished by confusion due to unclear levels of authority and decision making, having no direct input into any big picture, and having little control over your own individual job or career destiny.Many employers evaluate employee performance criteria on the following scale: "below expectations," "meets expectations," "exceeds expectations." The fundamental basis for achieving performance results involves determining who has expectations of whom about what by when. As such, this guidebook is focused on helping you clarify what you are supposed to be doing, find the value in what you do, and care about it enough to learn how to deal with unclear and changing expectations.Ever hear the joke of the employee who asks the boss, "When will my pay raise become effective?" and gets the response, "The same time you do"? Well, becoming effective is about performing beyond expectations in contributing to your company's success—and getting rewarded for it.Are you involved in regularly scheduled work group or team meetings? Are you expected to collaborate more closely with others in order to meet your performance expectations? By taking yourself through the Coaching Points in the guidebook, you will explore, for instance, how to improve problem solving and decision making within your work group, how to anticipate the effect of group dynamics and the impact roles have on how meetings are facilitated, and how to discuss challenging work process, performance, and productivity issues in an open and honest manner. You will better understand how organizational culture, mission, values, vision, strategy, structure, and systems, as well as having a focus on the bottom line, affect your individual performance.Are you due for a performance appraisal? Your company may have a standardized performance appraisal process that allows you to discuss with your supervisor or manager how you are evaluated on various performance criteria. Regardless of the format of your appraisal, by working through the guidebook, you can identify areas where you need to improve, then set clear guidelines and time frames for your own development. By doing so, you will demonstrate to your supervisor a willingness to take responsibility for your own performance, and you will be better prepared to discuss developmental opportunities.To achieve improved performance requires you to become clued into the big picture. I have designed numerous workplace training and performance improvement programs to support changes in business vision and strategy, mergers and acquisitions, restructured departmental operations and functions, or reengineering of work processes. Such training would sometimes focus on, for instance, instructing people how to implement a new work process or use a new computer system. Though the main objective of the training was often to develop technical skills, it usually became evident that it was very important to inform the people doing the work how and why the training supported the overall company's business strategy and goals. On-the-job results subsequent to training programs that included such a context demonstrated that not only did people become more effective in their productivity, but they took less time to learn what they needed in order to perform the work.Ironically, it may be through exploration of these organizationally focused areas that you discover a deeper sense of individual purpose and meaning, for these ingredients comprise the dimensions of personal empowerment—the confidence, competence, and commitment that promote within each of us a sense of satisfaction and success in our work life. The Contributing to Your Company's Success guidebook can become your empowerment coach.
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