by Cathy Sedacca
As a business owner, you get to do all the glamorous things that go hand-in-hand with your lofty position. Things like working longer hours, resolving sticky HR issues, and making tough hiring and firing calls.
At least you get a primo parking spot, right?
But of all the tough duties that business owners face, there’s one that many find consistently challenging and decidedly un-fun: holding employees accountable.
Unfortunately, you never have to hold employees accountable for doing things they like to do or are good at.
The challenge lies in asking people to follow through on things that are not fun and/or things they aren’t skilled at.
That leaves you to play the role of the office “heavy.” And nobody wants that title.
An opportunity to develop new skills
But the next time you find yourself in that situation, try a different approach. Ditch the traditional confrontational conversation (which no one enjoys) and take a more constructive approach.
View it as an opportunity to help someone develop new skills.
Ask questions of the employee to find out why the task isn’t getting done. Then work through some possible solutions.
For instance:
- Are there enough resources? Sometimes employees feel like they own a project and everything involved with completing it. But they don’t know how or when to ask for help when they don’t have the resources required to do the job.
- Do they need help visualizing and mapping out next steps? Too great of a focus on the end-result of a big project can make it hard to break the task down into the smaller steps required to get the job done.
- Do they need training or practice? It’s always beneficial to ask employees to push themselves to try new things and develop their skills. But sometimes being asked to do something they’ve never done can leave them feeling nervous or even frozen. Some patient coaching might be all they need to get over a hurdle and achieve success.
- Do they have the time? Are daily tasks getting in the way of their ability to complete a larger task? Perhaps they just need help prioritizing their work or delegating some tasks.
Reframing the situation not only helps empower employees to turn weaknesses into strengths, it can help turn you from a heavy into a hero worthy of that good parking spot.
Cathy Sedacca is director of sales and marketing for Sage Business Credit. She partnered with Karen Turnquist to found Sage because she believed they could do what had been done by others, but better. Working closely with clients who share the same vision for their own business is the best part of her job.