Not so long ago we have realized that it is not right to help people up to the point until they get hired. Since we offer much more that just resume writing services our company has made the decision to post articles that could help people succeed at their workplaces. Today our article is about criticizing the employees you manage and supervise. By criticism, we mean the practice of evaluating the merits and faults of someone based on established job criteria. It has nothing to do with personal issues. We are talking about work ethics here and how to be an effective manager. However, the principles listed below could also help you in personal life.
Sandwich Criticism
Many people often feel awkward when they have to criticize an employee for doing a bad job. And one can understand that as most people would negatively react to criticism if it is given in an inappropriate manner. Ruining relationships with your subordinate personnel won't help you much in doing your job so you have to learn how to effectively criticize your employees. The very first thing to remember is you should not ever focus your criticism on a person. Instead, direct it on specific actions you are not happy with. It will help you achieve your goal as well as maintain relationships with staff. From our experience, we can say that sandwich criticism is the most powerful way to convey your ideas and criticism to people. Before saying anything negative try to find some things you an give praise for. Usually, even the worst employees have something they can be praised for. And it is best to start by giving something positive about what that person did. Afterwards, you can proceed to the actual criticism, constructively listing the things you are not happy with as a Manager or Supervisor. Keep in mind that you should concentrate on specific actions or behavior rather than on a person. It will be also good if you could tell that person how he/she can do things better.
Try to be short, there is no need to read lectures. After you are done with criticism we advise you close it with something positive again. You can say that you believe that person will do better next time or simply reiterate the things you like that person is doing. People call it a sandwich principle because the actual criticism is between praise and encouragement just like salami with salad is between two slices of bread. There are several things we would like to close this article with that could help you in expressing your dissatisfaction with someone's actions at a workplace. In order to be more effective make sure the employee understands the reason for criticism.
Setting a tone of anger (or even worse - sarcasm) won't help the matter; it will make everything even worse. If you are irritated or angry it is better to cool off before expressing your dissatisfaction. Such simple things will help you advance in your career as you will be able to keep good relationships with your co-workers and be a good manager at the same time.