If I ask managers at my workshops for their opinions of performance reviews, I am almost guaranteed to get grimacing faces and negative stories. One manager told me that when performance reviews were due in her organisation there was a "corporate groan!"
Whew! Not a good start to a helpful or enriching experience!
To help improve this process, let's first look at four reasons why performance reviews are considered so negative:
4 common problems with the performance review:
1. Reviews are often assigned at one of the busiest times of year for managers.
2. They often require massive amounts of preparation, note taking, and paperwork.
3. There is often a sense that this rather stilted process concludes with both parties feeling it has been less than satisfactory, and rather de-motivating or "unhelpful".
4. Reviews are often seen as a policing tool designed to keep rising payroll costs in check, and become a bargaining or negotiation process above all else; and the truth is, that's often exactly how the employee sees it.
Small wonder that both sides just feel it is something to be endured! Some of the interesting research done by Gallup in recent years, looking at what made some managers more effective than others, found that the most effective managers had a performance management routine. No matter how busy their schedule, these managers found time in their diaries to follow a routine of meetings and conversations which were focused on the progress of each person's performance - throughout the year, and in less formal ways.
4 tips to make performance reviews a more motivating and positive experience:
1. Simplicity No complex forms to fill in; no alien terms or beaurocracy. Focus on what to say to each employee - and how to say it. If your organisation does have complex forms, when it comes to form filling at the end of the year, if you've followed the next steps, completing this will become far easier, and will hold no nasty surprises for the employee.
2. Frequent Once a year is not enough! No sportsman would wait until they'd done their race or completed their competition, before seeking feedback from their coach! Rather too late by then! Feedback needs to be timely, to allow opportunity to understand and discuss talents and strengths, to consider personal goals, to understand recognition needs and consider how best to support growth and development which will maximise that individual's engagement and motivation.
Make sure to meet with all the members of your team at least once a quarter, more frequently if you can.
All the research shows that performance improves most when feedback is timely, whether it's positive or construcitve feedback (and the studies show we should give praise at least 5 times more than criticism). Regular discussions with individuals, talking about their goals and their performance will maximize their engagement and motivation.
3. Stay future focussed - At each session conduct a brief review of past performance, then focus on what "could be." Allowing the employee to set their own goals helps keep them future focused and avoids recriminations and blame which lead nowhere.
4. Employee tracking - How many times have you felt the review is just a kind of "bargaining process" where the employee rates themselves higher, knowing the manager will rate them lower, and hoping that they'll manage to negotiate a grade somewhere in the middle?
Even when asked to review their own performance prior to the meeting, it is like a negotiation rather than a discussion! The employee, knowing the scoring system, ranks themselves high hoping to end up somewhere in the middle!
Great managers seem to realise this is less than productive. They encourage each employee to keep a personal record of their own performance and learnings; their goals, successes, challenges and discoveries. This personal record is not designed to be evaluated formally or critiqued. Rather, it is to allow the individual to take responsibility and feel a sense of accountability for their own performance.
If you've been meeting regularly and informally with your staff throughout the year, there is less chance of this happening!
Follow these four rules and performance management can become less of a chore, and more an opportunity to motivate and develop your people!
Whew! Not a good start to a helpful or enriching experience!
To help improve this process, let's first look at four reasons why performance reviews are considered so negative:
4 common problems with the performance review:
1. Reviews are often assigned at one of the busiest times of year for managers.
2. They often require massive amounts of preparation, note taking, and paperwork.
3. There is often a sense that this rather stilted process concludes with both parties feeling it has been less than satisfactory, and rather de-motivating or "unhelpful".
4. Reviews are often seen as a policing tool designed to keep rising payroll costs in check, and become a bargaining or negotiation process above all else; and the truth is, that's often exactly how the employee sees it.
Small wonder that both sides just feel it is something to be endured! Some of the interesting research done by Gallup in recent years, looking at what made some managers more effective than others, found that the most effective managers had a performance management routine. No matter how busy their schedule, these managers found time in their diaries to follow a routine of meetings and conversations which were focused on the progress of each person's performance - throughout the year, and in less formal ways.
4 tips to make performance reviews a more motivating and positive experience:
1. Simplicity No complex forms to fill in; no alien terms or beaurocracy. Focus on what to say to each employee - and how to say it. If your organisation does have complex forms, when it comes to form filling at the end of the year, if you've followed the next steps, completing this will become far easier, and will hold no nasty surprises for the employee.
2. Frequent Once a year is not enough! No sportsman would wait until they'd done their race or completed their competition, before seeking feedback from their coach! Rather too late by then! Feedback needs to be timely, to allow opportunity to understand and discuss talents and strengths, to consider personal goals, to understand recognition needs and consider how best to support growth and development which will maximise that individual's engagement and motivation.
Make sure to meet with all the members of your team at least once a quarter, more frequently if you can.
All the research shows that performance improves most when feedback is timely, whether it's positive or construcitve feedback (and the studies show we should give praise at least 5 times more than criticism). Regular discussions with individuals, talking about their goals and their performance will maximize their engagement and motivation.
3. Stay future focussed - At each session conduct a brief review of past performance, then focus on what "could be." Allowing the employee to set their own goals helps keep them future focused and avoids recriminations and blame which lead nowhere.
4. Employee tracking - How many times have you felt the review is just a kind of "bargaining process" where the employee rates themselves higher, knowing the manager will rate them lower, and hoping that they'll manage to negotiate a grade somewhere in the middle?
Even when asked to review their own performance prior to the meeting, it is like a negotiation rather than a discussion! The employee, knowing the scoring system, ranks themselves high hoping to end up somewhere in the middle!
Great managers seem to realise this is less than productive. They encourage each employee to keep a personal record of their own performance and learnings; their goals, successes, challenges and discoveries. This personal record is not designed to be evaluated formally or critiqued. Rather, it is to allow the individual to take responsibility and feel a sense of accountability for their own performance.
If you've been meeting regularly and informally with your staff throughout the year, there is less chance of this happening!
Follow these four rules and performance management can become less of a chore, and more an opportunity to motivate and develop your people!
About the Author:
Using her experience of over 30 years in coaching and training, Shona Garner specializes in giving managers practical techniques to develop their skills to enhance their career. Shona wants to ensure even those managers who have tight budgets still have access to useful resources to help them in any management situation. Her website, Increasing Managerial Success, has a wealth of information for managers to increase employee motivation quickly and easily.
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