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Be a Catalyst
Fostering Painless Performance Conversations
One person can be a change catalyst, a “transformer,” in any situation, in any organization.
—Stephen R. Covey
Employees initially come to work for a paycheck, but few stick around just for the money. In a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, 53 percent of employees listed pay as a very important aspect of their job satisfaction. At the same time, more than half said relationships with an immediate supervisor were a critical factor in their job satisfaction. Studies have repeatedly shown that employee satisfaction is directly linked to employees' relationships with their immediate managers. As a manager, you have a direct impact on employee retention and engagement, workplace morale, and organizational culture.
An important part of your job as a manager is to tap into the passion that brings employees to work each day. When those passions are engaged and employees feel valued, they are likely to perform at higher levels. One reason employees stick with an employer, and with you as their manager, is the feeling of being valued. Employees are eager for your feedback, and your job as a manager is to provide them the reinforcement they crave.
But let's be realistic. You also have a really heavy workload. You are constantly juggling your focus between your own work and your employees' needs. As a result, it's easy to lose sight of one of the most critical roles that you play: a catalyst, someone who drives initiatives forward and provides a spark for change, serving as an igniter of passion. Catalysts help others take on more responsibility, rather than taking it on themselves. When you act as a catalyst, you help others function independently and confidently so that you can focus on moving the work group's and the organization's goals forward.
As a manager, you wear many hats, including technical expert, budget balancer, customer service champion, organizer of the work, scheduler of assignments, conflict resolver, problem solver, coach, mentor, and cheerleader of employees. At times, you play the role of counselor. At other times, you take on the job of mediator or facilitator.
Painless Perspective
As a manager, your first job is to be a catalyst, a spark for change.
However, the most powerful role you can play is that of a catalyst. As a catalyst manager you inspire, excite, and nurture an engaged work culture. You use your influence as a catalyst manager to create a positive environment where each individual excels to the best of his or her ability. When you think of yourself as a catalyst, you become a more effective manager. Table 1.1 lists some distinctions between typical managers and catalyst managers.
Table 1.1 Catalyst Manager versus Typical Manager.
| Maintains status quo | Seeks new and better results |
| Gets work done | Creates new opportunities |
| Completes defined goals | Establishes new and challenging goals |
| Preserves | Promotes |
| Sustains performance | Takes performance to the next level |
| Reinforces accepted ideas | Provokes new thinking |
The Primary Tool of Catalyst Managers
Being a catalyst for action and change requires you to take on some difficult tasks, such as defining your performance expectations clearly for your employees. Catalyst managers challenge the status quo regularly, and this task is next to impossible if your employees are not on board. Most important, catalyst managers have frequent, meaningful conversations to influence performance. Any one conversation has the potential to shift an employee's perspective, to influence that person's choices, or to affect his or her performance.
Have you ever avoided a conversation with an employee about something because you were uncomfortable bringing it up? Customer service issues, attendance, hygiene, poor work quality, lack of teamwork...each situation calls for the conversations you should be having, rather than avoiding. As a catalyst manager you can use conversations to shift the status quo.
Painless Perspective
As a manager you automatically have an impact on others. The nature of your impact is up to you. Be a catalyst.
Employees Want Meaningful Conversations
The research organization Leadership I.Q. found that 66 percent of employees said that they have too little interaction with their bosses. Sixty-seven percent of employees said they get too little positive feedback from their bosses. In summary, roughly two-thirds of the workforce says they want more quality interactions with you. They want to know more about what you're thinking, and they want to know how they're doing.
It's clear that employees want meaningful two-way conversations that help them be successful. They want to know that they are adding value to the organization a...
