In 1907, Scientist Paul Ehrlich coined the term “magic bullet,” a bullet that would hit its mark without fail and create no collateral damage to surrounding areas. He was talking about immune systems and later won the Nobel Prize. We’ve been searching for elusive magic bullets in organizational life ever since.

For the longest time, if I began working with a client who wanted to bring about systemic change, specifically in the areas of culture, employee engagement, and work performance, they would ask me, “what’s the one thing we should do?” Often, the subtext to this might be what’s the quickest fix to this thing that isn’t working optimally or that is a categorical mess? 

I’d always say: develop a widespread practice of structured one-on-ones. That’s going to give you the greatest impact, and even in 90 days, with a faithful implementation, you’re going to see improvements in some or all the following areas:

• Increased trust

• Improved performance

• Greater leader confidence

• Increased morale

• Increased retention

• Better engagement

• Greater focus on achieving goals

• i.e., ALL THE GOOD STUFF

And it’s true: the structured one-on-ones can do all that and more. You might say that, for all this time, I’ve said, “here’s your magic bullet: get your supervisors and managers to hold regularly scheduled one-on-ones specifically focused on performance, and have them ask four questions: What’s going well? What could be better? What’s in the way? What do you need?

It is magic. Really. Here’s the part where I say, with great dramatic flair: don’t be surprised when it works!

But now, it’s time for me to be honest about this perfectly acceptable band-aid: it’s not enough. 

In our Influencing Options Keys for Managing Performance, we note the following:

1. Hire for talent

2. Provide clear, written expectations

3. Teach to ableness

4. Give frequent, small-dose feedback

5. Remove obstacles

6. Develop your people

This iterative process (other than the hiring, which is entirely proactive in its influence on managing performance!) allows you both to set people up for ongoing success and also to keep your practices aligned with personnel case law, which emphasizes the importance of #2, #3 and #4, specifically. (And why every HR professional wants a tattoo that says, “where’s your documentation?”)

Our structured one-on-one (you see it there in #4) is what you can do mid-stream, any time, no matter what’s happening. That’s why, for so many years, it’s been the most powerful, immediate turn-around solution: get them talking to team members regularly about what’s on track and what’s off.

But, here’s the real silver bullet, the real solution: you cannot do anything well and long-lasting without #2. If everyone did #2, many problems would vanish! You’d likely hit your targets cleanly, with little mess or fuss.

You must have clearly-written performance expectations. This is the cause behind most of the following issues:

• Inconsistent performance

• Interpersonal strife

• Underperforming individuals and teams

• Leader stress and frustration

• Increased turnover, burnout, resentment

• Greater grievances, lawsuits, and union disputes

• Increased risk

• Missed deadlines and goals

• Waste and inefficiency

Note: each item on this list costs you so much time and money! 

So, if this is the silver bullet, why aren’t we utilizing it? Why doesn’t every single person and every job have clearly-written performance expectations that we can share when they are hired, refer to when we want to offer praise and recognition, note when we need improvements, and clarify when we need direction? Why would we neglect this essential organizational infrastructure element?

1. We were initially entrepreneurial, and we just jumped in, and a small group of people just got stuff done.

2. We have “job descriptions” for posting and recruiting positions, so these should suffice.

3. We don’t have time to write them.

4. We don’t know how to write them.

5. We want people to “do their jobs.”

6. We make them so complicated that no one uses them.

7. We can’t come up with criteria for measurement.

8. We just did the best we could.

First, let’s get honest: does everyone in your organization have clearly-written performance expectations?

Let’s begin there.

** Need help delivering effective performance expectations?

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