Positive Employee Profile
With Correlify, you will easily collect information from managers and direct reports. Our AI will analyze, correlate the data, compile and store them in a single location—allowing you to access all of your major insights in a matter of seconds whenever necessary. This gives you an accurate picture of the most precise employee career path that can be used in decision-making about your team members.
Below is an article on PEP written by Eddi Phou, our Lean-Agile coach and executive consultant, who was kind to share it with us. Find him on LinkedIn Eddi Phou
The context.
Over the years, I have encountered many different people from different industries. But, like everyone, I have realized that more people are being burned out than people who are happy and fulfilled in their jobs. We spend most of our lives working, yet we are rarely satisfied with what we have accomplished.
A wrong attitude or even behavior in the workplace often spreads from one employee to another through manager-employee relationships.
Imagine you meet someone with an unfriendly or unpleasant personality. Well, this characteristic is quite common among many people at work. Their personality may be negative and ultimately harmful. But once you get to know them outside the workplace, they are much more cheerful.
Strange? Not really...
In 2023, most people don't enjoy their jobs - not because of the actual work itself, but due to a poor working environment.
Why do we still keep the job if we don't like it? It's not easy; the main reason is that sometimes we don't have a choice. We need money to pay our bills and debts, so we have to find a job according to our skills or qualifications; then we realize the environment is toxic, and we are forcing ourselves to cope with it. However, it's not toxic everywhere. If you are lucky enough to work in your field of interest and passion, you will be happy with what you do every day.
I am convinced that it is not black and white. Not like: I love my job or I hate my job. Maybe it's best to look at a level of fulfillment at work.
What does positiveness really mean in the workplace?
It isn't just about us as individuals. How we interact with others can affect our happiness. Being more optimistic can help us focus on the positive aspects of other people's personalities and relationships. The more positive we are, the better our relationships with others are. Therefore, increasing our own happiness and focusing on the good aspects of others can make them happier, in turn, making ourselves happy again.
Being positive prevents us from focusing on negative aspects of life, so we are more tolerant and less stressed because we are not caught up in negative thoughts or emotions that can make us anxious.
When we grow and share with others, we become more empathetic, leading to greater compassion.
Problem solving as group.
You might think that you're the only one who can be a great problem solver, but the fact is: we are all great problem solvers. We may not know it ourselves or have identified our strengths as such—but each of us has areas in which we excel.
Working together as a group can result in better problem-solving, leading to new opportunities that we might not be able to see on our own.
So don't focus on the negative aspects of things, but instead push them aside if they are an obstacle. Try to understand others' points of view and show empathy; create a group that includes diverse people and work towards creating opportunities together around a common goal.
Why does performance evaluation make no sense?
Employee profiles often address more than 20 topics, including performance evaluations and metrics.
Performance evaluations and metrics are probably the most used list of performance measures, but they are also one of the most inaccurate because most managers don't spend enough time creating a meaningful evaluation process or understanding how to use them.
While we may measure someone’s performance, it is really a subjective process. We write objectives and goals for the employee to achieve, and then our judgment of their performance depends on whether they meet those written expectations or not.
Performance evaluations are also used to determine if one will be promoted, how much they will be paid and their responsibilities. These evaluations then translate into soft and hard skills, leading to a list of weaknesses and strengths, and ultimately ending up in a lot of nonsense.
Let's think differently:
The subjective nature of the process is a problem, leading to unhealthy outcomes. By taking a holistic approach and going through the whole spectrum of the employee profile, we're better able to understand our employees and evaluate the full extent of their abilities.
How about that?
If an employee made a mistake on one project, would that taint their performance record?
Adam, my ex-boss used to say: "Always assume positive intent." Although we don't set out purposely to make mistakes, things happen that are beyond our control, and bad things can affect anyone - even the most talented among us. We can't possibly remember every mistake we make. And learning from our mistakes is a big part of growing up, right? We continuously improve from past experiences.
We remember the bad things much more easily than the good ones, which is why it's so easy to shame someone and rewarding them would be considered normal. We need to make a difference in how we treat people by writing down what they've done great instead of just remembering their faults.
How about if an employee has unrealistic expectations and thinks that they can become the next top manager with no experience as a manager, how do we deal with that?
Again, "unrealistic" is subjective. It's not a lie to themselves. If an employee wants to be the next top manager, we should encourage them to reach their goals as long as it aligns with the company vision. Push them as much as they want and encourage them to make decisions. Give them the material to learn and succeed.
So what is "Positive Employee Profile"?
So, I call it the Positive Employee Profile - PEP. Bear in mind, it's a concept of my own creation, there is no official name for this type of profile.
The Positive Employee Profile captures both hard skills and soft skills; employee's strong suits and personal qualities; we add up all that the employee brings to the table, as well as everything they hope to accomplish in the company. We add up everything else that we know, including past achievements and past experience. The insights we gather about the company and its employees are compiled into a report that only includes what really matters. We take all of these aspects into consideration and combine them to create a Positive Employee Profile that emphasizes psychological safety. It may be easier said than done, but practice makes perfect; with more experience, we learn how to correlate what we know.
Should we include part of our personal life in the PEP?
Depends, it's up to your employee to add what he or she wants to be listed. For example: if we know you are passionate about art, music (etc.), your profile can be augmented by adding these interests.
My methods of keeping focused may seem strange, but I've found that climbing high into the mountains or freediving helps eliminate distractions and improve concentration. So worth mentioning to me. Like gardeners, business strategists can often see connections between seemingly unrelated things. You could leverage this by connecting your entrepreneurial experience with insights you've gained as a gardener and using that understanding in the business world. I wrote a LinkedIn post about it.
Passion, culture, and social skills can enhance your profile. Hard skills are not only one of the essential credentials for success in the workplace.
My experience has taught me that working with people who share your attitude and mindset is better than hiring the most skilled individual for a job.
All aspects of our lives become intrinsically connected as we grow. As we learn more about what makes us happy, we can use that information to understand better how work and personal life may be headed in the same direction. We encourage people to do so, so that we take ownership of our profile and make it more personal.
Conclusion
PEP is a concept to take a holistic approach looking at an employee.
We don't leave the employee evaluation process until just before it's due, and we don't focus only on results. Some managers have a large number of direct reports, and requiring such an extensive evaluation process for everyone would waste time. Instead, we emphasize ongoing communication and capture positive insights to build psychological safety in our organizations—which is beneficial for both employees and employers.
Eddi.
With Correlify, you will easily collect information from managers and direct reports. Our AI will analyze, correlate the data, compile, and store them in a single location—allowing you to access all of your major insights in a matter of seconds whenever necessary. This gives you an accurate picture of the most precise employee career path that can be used in decision-making about your team members.
