I guess sometimes I am too nice to be a supervisor, but my assistant really needs me to be harder on her.

 

We do quarterly reviews and my bosses have asked me why I keep scoring her at a three and not a four.  I told them because she doesn’t meet a four (which is exceeds expectations).  So this quarter I gave her a four, but I don’t feel that she deserves it.

 

There are spreads sheets that aren’t updated like they should be, I have to reminder her 30% of the time to update her action items which I review daily and are expected to be update every day at noon.  She was supposed to call a locksmith two weeks ago and I had to call them yesterday myself.  A three is meets expectations and I don’t want her to get the impression that she is doing a bad job, but I want her to know that I am expecting her to do a better job.  And she should focus on doing a better job.  I am having to pick up the slack too much and if I don't I get heat from it...

 

How do you motivate an employee to do better without making them feel like they are doing a bad job?

You're sending a lot of mixed messages.  You gave her a 4 which exceeds expectations, you've been giving her a 3 which meets expectations and in reality, at least a third of the time she's not doing what you told her to do therefore NOT even meeting expectations.  Really, how is she supposed to know that she's not doing what you want? 

I think the highest score you should be giving her in this case is a 3 and only if she's doing other things that EXCEED expectations so that she averages to a 3.  You need to tell her as part of her review that you EXPECT her to have these spread sheets up to date and this action item thing done every day by noon and that you won't be issuing any more reminders (you're not her mother, you shouldn't have to tell her every day).  If she doesn't get it done, you'll be reflecting it on the next review period.

Tess

Hi,

I agree with Tess- you're sending mixed messages. Giving your assistant a higher score which you don't feel she deserves is bound to confuse her. It makes your job more difficult because based on her performance review you told her she's exceeding expectations, but verbally you're telling her she's not doing a good job.

Set challenging, measurable goals with your direct report. Measurable goals can be motivating. And involve your assistant in setting her goals. Be sure to acknowledge her successes. And, of course, when she isn't performing well in a certain area, talk it over with her when you first notice it. It's all in the delivery. Try not to come off as condescending.

Joan Runnheim Olson, Leadership Coach

It's never fun having to manage someone, especially when it's in a coaching or corrective manner, but you're doing everyone a disservice by not doing it.

Start a weekly one on one of sorts.  Use the quarterly review as a guideline if you'd like.  The idea here is to come up with some kind of consistent improvement plan.  The first time out, outline your specific expectations.  Be it paperwork, behavioral, logistical, organizational, etc.  Example: "Mary is to create a spreadsheet daily of sales and expenses that is to be published on my desk no later than 5pm.  And it is to have the new TPS cover sheet attached."  2 or 3 things should suffice at first.  Put it in writing, email anyone else who may need to be aware of anything, and track it daily.  Usually, things of that nature (compliance things especially) can be verified in just a few moments of your time.

Then the next week, follow up what results you've tracked (example: "Mary did the spreadsheet M,T,W,and F, but was tardy handing it in on Thurs"), and manage that.  You've already set the expectation, it's her job to follow it.  It's your job to follow up.  It's ok to let her know that Thursday's performance was not acceptable.  That's HER job, and you are affected if she's not doing it.  And now you have a paper trail, documentation, in case it escallates.  If she's choosing not to do her spreadsheet, you can document it and discipline accordingly.  Maybe she's just not the spreadsheet type.  It's ok, she's not a bad person, you're not a bad person, it's just not the right job for her and she needs to move along.

Keep it positive, and it's every bit as important to track for recognition as it is for coaching and management.  Now, when it comes time for Mary's review, you can say "She is a 4 - never missed one day with her spreadsheet", or "She is a 2, she's missed her spreadsheet 3 days in the past month" or something to that effect.

The trick is to remember a few things.  One, people WANT to be held accountable.  It justifies what they do day in and day out.  Another is never take it personally.  It's a business, treat it as such.  Probably the biggest is FOLLOW UP is KEY.  The last is keep it positive.

Good luck!