"One of the most important foundations of performance is determining what you're good at, what you have the potential to be great at, and bringing that [knowledge] to the work that you do," says Nicole Helprin, director of internal and employee engagement communications for Hewlett-Packard. "When people feel like they're bringing their gifts to the workplace, they're more productive, they're more engaged, and they're going to be more successful in meeting their expectations."
A lack of clearly defined expectations is detrimental to the productivity of an organization. Worse, it's almost impossible for the organization to be credible in the eyes of its employees if it cannot clearly articulate what employees should be doing at work. So what is the best way to communicate expectations to employees?
1. Describe what each employee is supposed to accomplish, not how he or she is supposed to accomplish it. Don't explain expectations as a process or set of steps; explain them in terms of the outcomes the employee needs to achieve to reach organizational goals.
2. Get to know each employee's greatest strengths. Then, discuss how employees can use their unique strengths to achieve expectations. This also helps managers understand the specific ways an employee will produce exceptional results. There is rarely only one way to accomplish a task. Freeing employees to use their strengths to achieve key outcomes can help them find more efficient ways to meet expectations.
"It's so important to understand your own strengths and how you apply them to your job," says Helprin. "It helps you map yourself and your team -- someone may not be good at that, but they are very good at this, and it's really helpful in understanding how to divide up the work. That makes you less prone to put someone in the wrong job or to give them responsibilities that don't fall into areas where they excel."
