Improve Employee Performance by Letting "Talkers" Speak

By Barbara Brown, Ph.D

Do you have one or two employees who like to be "in front" of the crowd? Or perhaps they just like to do more talking than writing. If so, use their passion for speaking as a way to encourage greater cooperation and contributions. How? By highlighting situations where there will be opportunities to speak. Or better yet, by actually making sure they have opportunities to share ideas and talk in public. Consider these four situations:

Situation 1: You want to encourage increased participation in meetings.

Sometimes the way to garner increased and constructive input from "talkers" is to give them a platform at meetings. Provide this opportunity by thinking of a way to give them a visible, but structured, role in some part of the meeting. This might involve opening the meeting, reviewing the agenda, or closing the meeting.

Situation 2: You want to encourage more sharing of expertise.

For employees who talk a lot AND know a lot, find ways to allow them to share their knowledge. If they possess appropriate platform skills, allow them to present a portion of a training class or conduct the entire class. Or consider situations where they might provide training for a group of employees outside the structured classroom.

Situation 3: You want to encourage improved participation in a project.

Some employees resist doing their best when they think that their specific work will be combined with the work of others; leaving no way to distinguish individual contributions. And while you may not be able to eliminate this end result, you might be able to give those who crave some limelight to have a public viewing. Perhaps they could have a regular role in presenting updates to management. Or maybe they could have more specific presentation tasks like identifying problems or describing approaches to solve problems.

Situation 4: You want to encourage more participation in company-sponsored events or extracurricular activities.

Employees who like to be seen may not necessarily relish a "back room or back row" role when you have community meetings, charity events, or company banquets. So whenever possible, think of ways to allow them to be engaged in a way they find useful and enjoyable. Perhaps there will be opportunities for talking about the event before it happens. Or maybe a presentation will be possible during or even after the event.

Even Irritating Behaviors Can Have A Positive Use
Some employees like to talk a lot, while some prefer to say very little. Some abhor making public presentations, while others crave such roles. When these behaviors happen in the extreme, they can be irritating. The key is to not let negative perceptions about certain behaviors prevent you from positively using those behaviors to create more meaningful experiences for employees. And if employees find the job more meaningful, they are more likely to do a better job.

So if you have some employees who love the limelight or love to be heard, give them more of what they love to do.

Barbara Brown, PhD shows managers how to improve employee performance by linking performance to results. Her E-Books contain phrases and examples for discussing performance, improving performance, and reinforcing performance. Her E-Courses provide strategies for motivating employees to cooperate and contribute.

Click on "FREE STUFF" at her website to download tools to manage performance discussions.

Website: http://www.LinkToResults.net
Email: Barbara@LinkToResults.net