The data generated by my fast and free Performance-Values Assessment continues to evolve.
As more global participants add their experiences to our survey results, opportunities are more pronounced for leaders of companies, divisions, and teams.
This assessment gauges the degree to which team members experience the best practices of high performing, values-aligned organizations in their workplaces. Respondents rank twenty of these proven practices on a six point scale, from best to worst: Strongly Agree, Agree, Slightly Agree, Slightly Disagree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree.
Since each of these practices are desirable, great scores are those rated Strongly Agree and Agree. In this post, we’ll look at two of the lowest scoring questions on the assessment right now.
Pictured above is the snapshot of the item that states, “Our team has defined what a ‘good team citizen’ acts like.” Combining the desired scores (those from Strongly Agree and Agree), we find that only 33% of global respondents believe this is true in their teams. Therefore, 67% of global respondents believe their team has not defined good corporate citizenship.
#GreatBosses do not leave team engagement to chance. They know that team values, defined in measurable, behavioral terms, set a clear standard for how team members treat each other and how they treat customers.
In the absence of those clearly stated values expectations, “anything goes.” Team members learn to behave any way they want in order to get their tasks done, no matter the peripheral damage to relationships and mutual trust.
That’s no way to run a team. Team members on consistently high performing and values-aligned teams indicate that team valued behaviors help keep bad behavior at bay – and encourage cooperative interactions that boost performance and engagement.
The second item we’ll look at scored even lower than the citizenship question noted above.
The ranking of respondents that Strongly Agree or Agree with the statement, “My direct boss provides me with effective performance coaching,” is only 30%. That means 70% of global respondents do not receive effective performance coaching from their bosses!
#GreatBosses know that their primary job is to remove employee frustration – to ensure talented, engaged staff are exceeding performance commitments. Effective performance coaching is a critically important function of great bosses.
Every project, goal, or task hits bumps in the road to accomplishment. If performance progress isn’t closely monitored and recognized by leaders, employees may decide, “If it’s not important to my boss, it’s not important to me.” They’ll shift their efforts and focus to other tasks.
Effective leaders pay attention to performance progress and employee engagement on key tasks – and reinforce performance expectations while helping staff past those inevitable bumps.
How would your team members rate these two best practices? Have you defined team citizenship standards in measurable, behavioral terms? Would team members say your performance coaching is effective – most of the time?
Contribute your thoughts about this post/podcast in the comments section below.
What is it like to live in your organization’s culture? Share your experiences in my fast & free Performance-Values Assessment. Results and analysis are described on my blog’s research page.
This research can help you refine your organization’s corporate culture. Contact me to discuss conducting the Performance-Values Assessment in your company.
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