Setting Clear Expectation for Employees

Unclear or misunderstood expectations can lead to a drop in performance, along with conflict between a manager and a team member. Although no one likes a micromanager, most employees appreciate knowing they are on the right track. Setting expectations and communicating employee responsibilities to each new hire can have a long-lasting effect on your business. However, a study by Gallup shows that nearly half of all U.S. employees don’t know what’s expected of them at work.

Here are some tips for setting expectations and finding meaning at work for new and existing employees:

1. Connect Individuals to the Big Picture

Numerous research studies indicate that employees are more likely to find meaning at work if their job helps them achieve some longer-term goals. Typically, this involves a leader understanding the far-reaching goals an employee wants to achieve and helping them see how their work is contributing to that.

It is important to articulate a common goal, not just to harness the collective energy but also to help people build a connection between their work and the organization’s highest aims. People need to know how their work connects to the organization’s vision and what’s in it for them.

This requires reconstructing day-to-day work to the organization’s objective, helping employees understand how a series of low level tasks are related to the bigger picture.

2. Identify Meaningful Progress

We need regular feedback to inform us how we are tracking to motivate us to stay the course. Many of us need to feel that we are making progress and that our work is contributing to something important. Measurement and feedback provide an important sense of momentum which is, critical to increasing performance and motivation.

At work, a lot of measurements can be meaningless for individuals. Help your employees measure what matters to them. Work with them to uncover what makes them feel successful at the end of the day or week. Communicate regularly to employees how far they are expected to go and keep them informed of progress along the way.

Research shows that when people know exactly how they were progressing they have the best performance and least stress.

3. Connect Your Team to the External Customer

Ultimately, organizations have to solve customer problems to stay in business. The reality is you can’t make good customer decisions if you are siloed. Yet, the customer can often get forgotten about as an organization becomes larger. It is important to help your people understand how their work benefits customers.

The best method to do that is for employees to hear firsthand from customers how the organization’s product or service improves their life.

It’s important to help your employees think about who would be worse off if they didn’t do their job.  Reframing for who your work matters can be a powerful motivator to improve our results.

Employees feel most appreciated when you help them feel connected: to purpose, accomplishment, and one another. Communicate their exact role in your organization’s greater purpose—how they make a difference and contribute. And how they fit into their teams and the broader organization. When employees connect to organizational purpose, great work, and their teammates, they feel a higher sense of belonging at work. Successful companies show employees how their efforts play a part in something much bigger than themselves, so they feel more valued by their leaders and by their organization.