Thriving workplaces depend on trust to continue to grow and excel. However, most of us can recognize; trust isn’t given, its earned. Building positive relationships in the workplace lays the groundwork for trusting teams that can perform and adapt at high levels. When leaders start prioritizing trust in the workplace, their teams will follow. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How do you create a trusting workplace?
• How can you build positive relationships? 
• Why should you be interested in learning more about your team members? 

Recommended Learning:Trust: Consistency of Leadership. 3 Ways to Build Trust

Recommended Tool: Emotional Bank Account: Deposits Vs. Withdrawals

Receiving feedback is an emotional experience, it’s often difficult to take in. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, we humans are quick to respond emotionally, sometimes overreacting, even to the point of denying the data is accurate. Feedback is also a powerful gift, it helps organizations understand what they are doing well, and areas in which they’re falling short. In this episode, Dr. Pilcher coaches us to work through useful feedback to honor the information that is helpful, without losing our cool. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How can we use feedback to help us improve? 
• What types of feedback should you pay attention to, and what can you ignore? 
• How can you gain additional input after feedback was previously provided? 

Recommended Learning: Receiving Results

Recommended Video: Emotional Reaction to Results

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Organizations perform at different levels, some are poor, others good, and very few are excellent. What makes an organization excellent? It’s their relentless commitment to continuous improvement. Great organizations are willing to get their hands dirty and face the brutal facts to improve, even when things are going well. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What is an improvement mindset, and how can I adopt one? 
• How is good the enemy of great?
• What keeps people from facing the brutal facts to create actions for change? 

Recommended Reading:Good to Great Fast Company Article By: Jim Collins

Recommended Learning:Are We Just Documenting or Improving Processes

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Is it really enough to provide good, or even, very good customer service? When your organization treats service recovery as just another refund, it misses a valuable growth opportunity. Excellent service recovery turns people with a poor experience into your biggest brand advocates. Listen now to hear the 4 steps to customer recovery. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• What is the difference between good service recovery and excellent service recovery?
• What steps can you take to recover from a bad customer experience? 
• How can your organization own a customer complaint, gain insight to improve, and keep its reputation intact?

Recommended Reading:Turn Those Upset Customers Around: Best Practices for Customer Service Recovery

Recommended Learning: Build A Culture Around Service

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• How can organizations recover from less than outstanding service? 
• What are the best practices of high-level service recovery?
• How can we use customer feedback as a training opportunity for the organization? 

• How can we support a low-solid performer to help them move up the performance curve? 
• How do we have difficult conversations with toxic employees?
• What can we do with low performing employees who don’t change their behavior? 

• What can we do when someone works hard with a good attitude and is not able to achieve results?
• What actions should leaders be taking to help employees gain the best opportunity to succeed? 
• When is it time to shift someone to a new position or shift them out of the organization entirely? 

How do the varying human performance levels affect the overall organizational results? What happens when leaders avoid managing employee performance levels?  We achieve higher performance with less variation when we tighten the performance curve. In this episode, Dr. Pilcher addresses how leaders have an important role in managing performance to keep results moving in a positive direction. 

This episode addresses questions, such as: 

• What is a performance wall, and why do organizations hit it? 
• Who are the only people who can do something about low performers and keeping the organization from hitting the wall?  
• How do I get everyone on board? 
• What happens when our high and solid performing employees get tired of carrying low performers? 

Hitting the Wall is the eighth episode in a series describing the performance curve and performance conversations, beginning with Ep. #16 High Performers: Who Are They?. 

Recommended Tool: Performance Plan Template 

Recommended Learning: Correct Because You Care & Pushing Through the Wall 

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60 – 70% of individuals in our organizations are solid performers, making them the backbone of every organization. When we give them our best, they will give their best to us and our organizations. This week, Dr. Pilcher discusses how to connect with your solid performers. When you give solid performers feedback the right way, a relationship is built that will retain, motivate, and inspire your direct reports.  

This episode addresses questions, such as: 

• How can I help develop and provide support to my solid performing employees? 
• How do I retain the majority of my direct reports? 
• What is the best way to provide feedback to my solid performers? 

Connecting with Solid Performers is the seventh episode in a series describing the performance curve and performance conversations, beginning with Ep. #16 High Performers: Who Are They?. 

Recommended Reading: The Feedback Fallacy By: Marcus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall 

Recommended Learning:  What High Performers Look Like – How to spot them & not them &  

High Solid Performer Support 

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Are you a high performer? Do you want to retain your high performing team members? This week, Dr. Pilcher offers an approach for connecting with your high performers and Erica Callaway joins her as a guest to model what this connection should sound like. Meeting with high performers the right way, so they know they are valued, moves the organization to achieve results. 

This episode addresses questions, such as:

• How do we retain our high performing employees?
• What should a conversation with a high performer sound like? 
• What are high performers looking for from their leaders?

Connecting with High Performers is the sixth episode in a series describing the performance curve and performance conversations, beginning with Ep. #16 High Performers: Who Are They?.

Recommended Tool:High Performer Re-Recruitment Conversation Template

Recommended Learning:Re-recruit High Performers

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