Many organizational leaders assume that those who perform at expectation are already giving the best that they can. They rely on their highest performers to do more and to help out in a pinch. They spend way too much time with their weakest performers; energy that could be utilized elsewhere.
The misconception is that we should not take any action to improve the performance of those in the middle. Employees need feedback, those at expectation, above expectation and below expectation, in order to improve and succeed. Middle performers usually make up 70-80% of an organization’s workforce.
These are your “Steady Eddies (and Edies)” whom you rely upon to get the work of the organization done every day. If you are like most leaders and do not offer feedback, you are contributing to their possibly only performing at an average level. There are employees who choose to be here, sometimes for personal reasons and that is not a bad thing as long as they meet your expected outcomes. There are some who may not be capable of performing at a higher level but there are some who could be motivated to do more.
How are you communicating with your employees?
What feedback are you getting from your supervisor?
“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously and never permit it to fade.
Your mind will seek to develop this picture!”
– Dr. Norman Vincent Peale