Frame Performance Differently

The International Conference & EXPO has plenty for attendees to do, learn, and experience in the moment—but it also has tons of valuable materials to take home. The Bookstore is a great place to find new ideas. Before ATD25 kicks off, The Conference Daily asked Sandra Mashihi, co-author of Performance Feedback Strategies with Kenneth M. Nowack, what readers can anticipate from the text and their sessions at the conference.

What inspired you to write the book?

First, in our coaching and research, we noticed that what employees tell us they want and need from leaders is not enough and not specific enough. We also hear from leaders that they are unsure how to deliver feedback in a way that engenders understanding, acceptance, and a commitment to behavior change that will facilitate performance.

Feedback delivered with an “ouch” (critical, negative, evaluative feedback) results in disengagement, lack of trust, and a motivation to explore other opportunities both within and outside the organization.

Nowack and I had developed a model to help leaders become better performance coaches based on two fundamental dimensions of how humans perceive and judge others: how well individuals actually perform based on negotiated standards of performance and the interpersonal side of how well they “play with others.” We wanted to unpack the model to provide leaders with a structured way to help them manage staff to enhance their performance on the job—not necessarily to help leaders become better career, life, and well-being coaches.

We both saw a critical need for leadership development in every organization, and our book came to life. It provides not only a model for providing feedback to employees but a road map for understanding individual differences in team members and tailoring feedback to ensure understanding and agreement on a specific plan to help them each grow and address performance challenges and issues or reinforce existing high performance.

How would you describe the Performance Feedback Coaching Model?

Our Performance Feedback Coaching Model is an evidence-based framework using a four-box model based on two dimensions that focuses on both the task and relationship dimensions of leadership. The quadrants include:

Performance management coaching. This aspect helps the employee understand how others perceive them and the effects of their communication, interpersonal, and leadership style. It highlights emotional and social awareness of behaviors that can erode engagement, trust, followership, and possibly derail their leadership career.

Performance enhancement coaching. Use this aspect to help the worker develop and improve specific, job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences to increase overall performance and productivity.

Performance acceleration coaching. Refer to this quadrant to help the individual build on existing job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences as well as to foster ongoing engagement, performance, and retention.

Performance improvement coaching. This component helps the feedback recipient develop a specific and immediate development plan they can implement with clear measures and follow-up dates to evaluate progress. Simultaneously, it addresses interpersonal deficits interfering with overall performance.

Why is tailored feedback important?

In our coaching and consulting experience, we see a greater emphasis on effective leaders managing teams composed of diverse and unique individuals. In feedback, one-size-doesn’t-fit-all is a useful frame to understand that direct reports can interpret what a supervisor says differently based on culture, age, neurodiversity, and other factors.

For example, if we want our colleagues in the UK office to consider making a change, they may respond better to less direct, evaluative feedback.

What do you want readers to take away from your book?

Nowack and I hope readers will immediately apply the performance feedback model with their employees to improve performance, increase engagement, and result in behavior change that enables teams to grow and develop.

What will you be doing at ATD25?

Nowack and I will present twice on related topics:

• “The Importance of Feedback for Career Development” in the Career Center on Monday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

• “Ouch That Hurt! The Science of Giving Effective Feedback” on Monday, May 19, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

We also plan on attending several sessions by our colleagues; connecting with some of our clients and friends in the Global Village; and exploring new trends, programs, and services on the EXPO floor.

Read more about ATD25 at conferencedaily.td.org.