Performance Management: How to give constructive criticism – using A>R>C

When we are giving constructive criticism, we are seeking to motivate the employee to make a change – a change that leads to improved performance. Here’s a useful model for explaining the need and gaining agreement to making that change;

 

ACTION & RESULTS   & CONSEQUENCES  = AGREEMENT

Is about explaining in clear, objective, non judgemental language what the employee is doing – the actions they are taking or not taking – that’s causing a problem. The focus is on behaviors

 

Is about defining and explaining the results of those actions

 

 

Is about defining and explaining the negative consequence of the actions

 

 

Most employees generally don’t want to be the cause of negative consequences. They don’t want to cause problems for the business, the team, for you or (of course) for themselves.

 

 

What managers need to do therefore is help the employee understand what happens as a result of their actions, or lack of action, and why that has a negative consequence.

Let’s take a simple example of an employee  who arrives late to team meetings

 

 

ACTION – You arrived 20 minutes late to yesterday’s team meeting

 

RESULT – We needed to stop the meeting to update you on what we had discussed so far

 

CONSEQUENCE – This was a waste of time for other team members, so not an efficient way to work

You’ll notice that in the above example I have used a consequence related to the business. I have a (very) strong preference for ’business consequences’ because they are a) easy to describe b) factual and c) therefore ‘depersonalised’

 

I could have described the consequence to;

In short, your choice of consequence (and I’d suggest you only use one) is based on your knowledge of the employee. Will they be more motivated to change by understanding the consequence to the business? Or are they more interested in how they are perceived? Would they be motivated to change by understanding the consequence to you?

 

My advice – if in doubt, stick to the business!

     

Would you like to know more about how to effectively manage your employees? Would you also like to read about the 5 classic mistakes that could be getting in the way of ‘effective management’ (and what to do about them!)?

 

Then claim your copy of my special report ‘Boost your business performance through effective people management’ at http://www.boostemployeeperformance.com