Performance Development Conversations

Managing performance requires dedication as well as great communication skills. In this workshop, we look at the reasons why managers avoid performance conversations, how they are done poorly and how to get the most out of the conversation for optimal satisfaction of the manager and the employee.

Successful conversations about individual and team performance are an integral part of organisational capability. In our experience, telling an employee to manage team performance is an insufficient driver for them to consistently undertake the tasks that enable it. Furthermore, simply providing a skill development intervention doesn’t ensure that participants use the skills outside the classroom. Managers often lack motivation and commitment to manage performance, not simply skill. Managers we have previously worked with have told us from the outset of training that they avoid performance conversations for a variety of reasons. These reasons include ‘business as usual’ demands (no time to prepare); fear of the consequences of giving feedback; being confronted by others emotions; losing control of the meaning and intent of the conversation (being accused of bullying and harassment) and, finally, a belief that nothing will actually change as a result of the conversation.

Managing performance requires dedication as well as great communication skills. In this workshop, we look at the reasons why managers avoid performance conversations, how they are done poorly and how to get the most out of the conversation for optimal satisfaction of the manager and the employee.

Our workshop develops participants in the following ways:

• Insight: Our intervention is experientially based so that participants derive greater insights into their own and others behaviour.
• Mindset: Our intervention deliberately targets the basis of the cognitive bias and individual mindsets that are often barriers to behavioural change.
• Positive Goal Directed Expectations: We intentionally create an expectation of success and positive outcomes for, and with, our participants.
• Action: We ensure all participants in our interventions walk away with a personal plan of action to embed the skills learned.