Page 174 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles
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Expectations
CHA P T E R 9
”High expectations are the key to everything.”
—Sam Walton
he most common reason that employees fail to
meet performance expectations is that those
Texpectations were never made clear in the first
place. Similar to giving feedback, supervisors consistently over-
rate the degree to which they provide clear, specific goals to
employees. Supervisors who get frustrated with employees for not
performing as expected have often failed to set clear expectations.
In addition to clearly defined goals, you must ensure that employ-
ees have the sufficient tools, training, and resources, including
information and time, to successfully meet expectations.
During high school, I worked part-time as a night janitor at a
local 3M plant. Although cleaning offices isn’t particularly com-
plicated or difficult work, like any new task, there is a learning
curve. The first week I really struggled, but by the end of the
second week I was starting to feel competent, and by the end of
the third I felt like a pro. It was at this point that my supervisor
told me that if I didn’t start doing a better job, he would have to
