|
Newspaper Article
|
|
|
|
Praise, at the Right Time, Can Make You a STAR
|
By Tom Coyner
Korea Times
August 24, 2007
This past Saturday, our firm was given the privilege- and challenge - to
train 130 Yonsei University MBA students at the Incheon Hyatt. The all-day
seminars focused on leadership skills that range from motivational theory
but focused primarily on practical tools for these future leaders to not
only motivate but to create sustained change among their future employees.
To say the least, it was an interesting experience. Virtually all the
students were young Koreans, but we did have some ethnic Koreans as well as
a couple of other Asians from abroad. The material we delivered was
developed by a former IBM executive who spent a very successful quarter
century with Big Blue in various countries, serving as an in-house
management trainer as well as serving in general management of some
strategic sales operations.
 There
were some interesting, cultural differences we discovered compared to other,
like seminars conducted elsewhere. Role playing exercises were welcome, but
initially confusing, since it was difficult, at first, for the Korean
students to play the exercise roles as opposed to handling their roles in
their own persona. After they
''got it,'' however, the Korean students were
enthusiastic about role playing - and overall, the majority rated the
seminars as being ``excellent.''
While we cannot cover the whole experience here, I would like to share what
could have been one of the more meaningful moments during the session I
taught. After reviewing the importance of immediate praise, I asked these
students - many of whom were from the weekend executive MBA program - when
was the last time any of them had concretely praised their employees?
The response could be summarized in two syllables: `''uh-oh...''
Some had received commendation letters - or at least email memos of
commendation. But none had actually given commendations to their
subordinates. So I advised them, if they want to make it to the top of their
organizations, one of the best ways is to effectively and immediately praise
their staff when someone does something really outstanding. On the other
hand, to be too loose with praise would cheapen both the value of the
commendations and the praising manager could be viewed as an insincere
leader.
To effectively commend, any manager first needs to have a way to fully
understand and appreciate what his or her staff is doing right, wrong, or in
an uneven right & wrong way. So I introduced to my students a quick and easy
method called STAR. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Not
only is it a great way to confirm or clear up a suspicion, it is also an
ideal way to communicate the ``real deal'' to other people - including one's
staff.
To give an example, let's consider one of your sales persons is having
trouble closing sales. You suspect this person, though very active, is
missing something, so you investigate. This is what you may discover:
Situation: Mr Choi is responsible to sell to five major banks products and
related services of your XYZ line. Task: Mr Choi has a 25 million won
quarterly sales quota. Action: Mr Choi is meeting with many of the right
people of his accounts at least once a week, but he is rarely completing any
deals due to improper sales call planning resulting in incoherent
strategies. Furthermore, he is often wasting his time by not properly
qualifying his opportunities. Result: Though Mr. Choi has much, undeveloped
potential, you realize that he has been let loose too early to sell on his
own. You decide for the next two months, you or sometimes a successful sales
person needs to buddy coach Mr. Choi by accompanying him on sales calls and
then debrief him on what happened and what he needs to do for the next sales
call.
Given Mr. Choi is a bright young man who has not yet realized how poorly he
is doing, he may be defensive by having to be buddy coached. So it's
important that he be counseled effectively so that he is neither resentful
nor defensive. Again, STAR can come to the rescue in how you approach him
about the need for buddy coaching. A STAR approach may go as follows:
''Mr. Choi, you know you have a major
responsibility within our operations given that five major banks have been
assigned to your sales territory (situation). As such, you should have
enough opportunity to regularly meet- if not exceed - your sales quota
(task). I've noticed that you are diligently working these accounts by your
frequent sales calls, but I now realize a lack of better sales planning and
opportunity qualifying is preventing you from being more successful
(action). Therefore, for the rest of this quarter you need to buddy up with
Mr. Lee or myself, so we can better understand your sales obstacles and help
you find ways where you can develop better sales strategies. Is that all
right with you? (result)''
The reader may easily appreciate how this same approach may be use for
reprimands as well. But let's see how STAR can be used effectively for
meaningful praise.
At a minimum, by writing a draft letter of commendation using STAR, one can
know for sure if the person is indeed praiseworthy at this time. Also,
please note I state
''letter of commendation'' - not verbal or
even emailed praise. I mean a personally hand-signed letter.
Think about it. Have you ever received a letter of commendation? Do you
still have it somewhere in a file? Did you show it to your partner, spouse
and/or parent? I bet you did.
So, let's construct a letter of praise for the incredible Ms. Kim. It may go
something like this:
Dear Ms. Kim,
Less than a year ago, you joined our company's customer service department.
Your responsibilities have been to look over 40 accounts, a large number for
a novice such as yourself. Yet you have taken on your job with an excellent
attitude, sincere diligence and an ever willingness to help others when in
need. For example, when Ms. Gwan's mother became sick, you agreed to also
take on Ms. Gwan's workload in addition to your own. As it turned out, not
only was Ms. Gwan required to be away from work longer than expected, you
were able to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction for both your and
Ms. Gwan's accounts.
As such, I sincerely wish to commend you for a most exemplary job well done.
Our company hopes you will continue on with your amazing ability to work
with people, since it is a pleasure to work with you.
Sincerely,
[your name signed here]
Could you pick out the STAR sections in the above? Do you think Ms. Kim will
appreciate this more than a simple verbal thanks and
''well done!'' comment?
Imagine if you did this regularly, at the appropriate times. In comparison,
to the other managers, you would likely be a hero in many employees' eyes.
Of course, there is a great deal more to being a leader than praise. There
is even much more to effective praise than just STAR. But I hope this may
give you some new ideas on how to motivate your staff.
Tom Coyner is president of Soft Landing Korea, a consulting group
focusing on sales and human resources issues. He is co-author of
Mastering Business in Korea: A Practical Guide.
|
|
