A significant shift has occurred over the past five years that many companies and organizations are not adapting well to.
Managers and supervisors have continued to rely on older and outdated methods of supervision when more and more evidence has emerged demonstrating that employees are looking for something different from their leaders.
In 2022, Gallup conducted their annual employee engagement survey. The results from this year showed a decline in employee engagement of 4%. This was the first decline in over a decade. Additionally, ‘Active Disengagement’ rose by four points.
Coming on the heels of the Great Resignation and “quiet quitting,” this news may not come as a surprise. However, writing it off as a one-time event would be dangerous.
Gallup identified specific areas of concern among employees. The areas with the most significant decline were:
- clarity of expectations
- connection to the mission or purpose of the company
- opportunities to learn and grow
- opportunities to do what employees do best
- having someone who encourages their development
What’s clear in these results is, no one is saying they need to be managed.
Frankly, the topics on this list are often not the focus of a supervisor or manager. This list resembles many areas a coach would focus on, such as gaining clarity, goal-setting, regular feedback, autonomy, and personal and professional development.
Supervisors and managers are often promoted due to their performance in a role, the results they were able to achieve for the company. Few are promoted because they understand how to support a team of people to achieve those same results.
One of the recommendations Gallup proposes is to develop coaching skills among managers. They also recommend managers meet weekly with employees for 15-30 minutes to discuss these areas.
Coach them up.
One of the ways managers can improve their coaching skills is to use Reflective Supervision.
Reflective Supervision is a collaborative approach to encouraging employees to reflect on their performance, specifically what went well (what they do best), and to foster the development of problem-solving skills (an opportunity to learn and grow). Using this approach, managers can help their team members to develop personal Success Frames which foster greater autonomy.
Below is a list of questions that can help extract the lessons from your success. These same questions are also effective in supervision to support and encourage reflection, as a coach might.
What were the steps you took? Name them.
What did you do or say?
Why did you make that choice?
Why do you think it worked?
What did you do next?
What was the result?
Was it what you expected?
And then what happened?
What did you do or say next?
Why did you choose to do that?
This is not a formula. Use the questions that work for the situation.
Each question is meant to anchor the employee in their actions and decisions. This is how supervisors can help employees uncover the lessons of their success. More importantly, it becomes a method for learning more about each employee, their strengths, and how they approach their work.
This goes beyond helping employees feel more engaged to actually becoming more engaged.
Supervisor and Manager Training
Reflective Supervision
Reflective Supervision is a strengths-based approach to supervision anchored in promoting ongoing personal development and enhanced autonomy through regular, collaborative reflection.
Participants will learn how to integrate reflective supervision into their existing supervisory skill set to support each employee’s individual goals and development and improve decision-making in alignment with the overall goals of your organization.
Success Framing
Success Framing is the process of identifying and building on the strengths of each individual. This approach utilizes individuals’ prior personal and professional success to develop a set of frameworks for approaching new challenges and problem-solving.
Participants will learn how to utilize reflective supervision to identify, reframe, and support the construction of individual success frames with individual employees to help them enhance their personal strengths.
For more information on these and other trainings, you can email me at rob@robhatch.com.