Are Employee Expectations Clear in Your Business?

Would Your Employees Describe Their Jobs the Same Way You Would?

Your employees know what you expect from them.

At least, you think they do.

You assume they know their priorities, what a good day looks like, which responsibilities matter most, and when they should make a decision versus asking a manager.

But if you asked an employee to describe their job and then asked their manager to do the same, would their answers match?

They might not.

And that doesn’t necessarily mean the employee isn’t paying attention or the manager isn’t communicating. Sometimes expectations that seem obvious to one person were never made quite as clear as everyone assumed.

When “They Should Know” Isn’t Enough

When you’ve worked in a business for years, certain expectations become second nature.

You know which customer needs to be called first. You know what can wait until tomorrow. You know when an employee should make a decision and when they should ask a manager.

But your employees weren’t necessarily there when those expectations developed.

Maybe something was mentioned during training. Another piece came up during a staff meeting. Something else was explained after a mistake six months ago.

Over time, the manager has a very clear picture of the job. The employee may be working from pieces of information they’ve picked up along the way.

That’s how two people can walk away with very different ideas about what “doing the job well” actually means.

Try This With One Position

There’s a simple way to find out whether that’s happening in your business.

Pick one position and ask the employee to answer these questions:

• What are the three most important parts of your job?
• How do you know when you’ve done your job well?
• What decisions can you make without asking your manager?
• What should you do when something goes wrong?
• What does your manager care about most in your role?

Then have the employee’s manager answer the same questions about that position.

Compare the answers.

You aren’t looking for identical wording. You’re looking for whether the two people are generally describing the same job.

If they are, great.

If they aren’t, pay attention to where the answers differ. Those differences can show you exactly where expectations need to be clarified.

A Performance Problem Might Be an Expectation Problem

Imagine a manager who believes an employee’s number one priority is responding quickly to customers.

The employee believes the priority is completing administrative work accurately before moving on to anything else.

Both may be working hard. Both may think they’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.

And both may be frustrated with the other.

Before assuming someone isn’t meeting expectations, make sure the employee actually knows what those expectations are.

That doesn’t remove accountability. It makes accountability fairer and easier to manage because everyone is working from the same definition of success.

Don’t Stop at the Conversation

Finding the disconnect and talking about it is a good start. But if nothing changes afterward, it’s easy to end up having the same conversation again.

Once you’ve identified where the manager and employee aren’t aligned, figure out what allowed that gap to happen.

If a responsibility wasn’t clear, document it. If an important expectation never made it into the job description, update it. If new employees aren’t learning something during onboarding, add it to the process. If priorities have changed as the role has evolved, make sure those changes are clearly communicated.

The solution doesn’t have to be complicated, but it should be intentional.

Then try the exercise with another position.

The goal isn’t just to solve one misunderstanding. It’s to make expectations clearer going forward so the same problem doesn’t keep repeating.

How Clear Is the Rest of Your Business?

Employee expectations are one part of a much bigger picture.

The same kinds of gaps can exist in your processes, compliance practices, and plans for future growth—and they aren’t always obvious when you’re focused on running the business every day.

TEL Staffing & HR created the free Small Business Report Card to help you take a broader look at your organization across four areas: People, Operations, Compliance & Protection, and Growth & Scalability.

Despite the name, many of the questions apply to businesses of all sizes. The goal isn’t to tell you how to run your business. It’s to help you identify what’s working well and where it may be worth taking a closer look.

Take a few minutes. Be honest. See how your business measures up.