Mark Kent, Regional President at Humana, describes why leaders in an organization must provide candid feedback to their employees to prevent employee disengagement.

Another thing that I really like is holding people accountable. You have to, and I think that as a leader, you’ve got to be able to have authentic and candid conversations relative to performance. We all think that we’re the best, but there are areas in which we’re not. But if there is no feedback relative to performance, then I’m always going to think I’m exceeding expectations, and you’re always going to think I’m not, and therefore, when it comes to an annual performance assessment (or etcetera) I’m not meeting goals. It’s usually that chasm, or that disconnect, that causes associates to become disengaged.

Everyone when you think about it, as much as I or you or any of us as children liked to test the boundaries of structure, we really looked forward to it. We really like knowing that there is a time to go to bed, a time to wake up, a time to do this, and that there is a process. We like that. When you don’t set that [structure], whether within your organization or within your personal life, then disengagement sets in, because there’s nothing to which you can value yourself against. And we love to compare ourselves relative to something else or someone else. So all of those things have to be there, the framework, the structure that guides. But If you don’t have feedback, then you’ll never know how you’re advancing relative to the set of expectations; you’re only going by your own thought, not someone else’s (who could be your leader). Leaders have got to be ready and willing to provide that feedback candidly and authentically such that the organization maintains its engagement.

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Mark Kent

CEO at CAC - Florida Medical Centers

Mark Kent is the Chief Executive Officer of Women’s Health Care in Evansville, Indiana operating several locations in Evansville and Newburgh, and an acute care hospital. Prior to joining Women’s Health Care he was the Chief Executive Officer of the CAC- Florida Medical Centers (a subsidiary of Humana, Inc) and was responsible for building this division from 18 locations to 58 locations with expansion across the state of Florida. Prior to assuming this position, he was Market President of the Ohio and Indiana Senior Products segment of the East Central Region with Humana growing this market from 47 thousand members to over 250 thousand members across Medicare and Group Retirement plan products.

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