How do you build trust in performance management?

Folks think they're already doing this, and to some extent, they are. What they aren't doing is telling people whether they are meeting the bar overall. Glows & grows, 2x2s, strengths and opportunities...what you call them doesn't matter. While they can be helpful conversation frames, they don't answer the questions people want to know. Tell people explicitly if they are doing enough. Tell people whether they are high performing or not. Then give feedback on what's working and what isn't. If you skip this step, your high performers never feel good enough. And your strugglers can feel overly confident because you gave them the same kind of feedback you gave everyone else.

I like to translate values into observable orientations. Telling people their values are off is never going to feel like a safe conversation. By clarifying what those values look like in action, you can set people up for success.

I agree with this. But I'd add a need to have the employee drive their growth plan. Ask them to come to you with a starting place and tell you as their manager what they think would be helpful. Set yourself up as a recommender but not an owner. Ask them what they want to learn and why. Help them connect that learning to their work. Ask them how you can contribute to their learning plan, because at the end of the day it is their learning plan. Without this framing, the work can feel disempowering. To say "you need to work on this" and "I think you need to attend this training" or "take this course" can make it feel like a directive and not authentic partnership or support.

Effective performance management is pivotal for entrepreneurs and leaders, driving strategy execution and sustained growth. In startups, visionary goals may lead to subjective feedback and misalignment without alignment to Data & Metrics. Hence, Proven methodologies like OKR, MBO, Balanced Scorecard, KRA, and KPIs foster trust and transparency, yielding impactful results. Stats underscore its importance: + 98% of US organizations value it, while just 5% are content with traditional reviews. + Weekly reviews boost engagement by 85%, yet 68% find current systems inefficient. With data propelling Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Engineering and Operations, involving teams from goal inception cultivates trust and alignment.

Proactive audits go a long way to building trust in your performance system. Instead of only solving issues people bring to you, show your staff that you're on top of things by looking for issues on your own. Report out what you found and what you're doing about it. It could sound like, "Hey team, we've run our semi-annual audit for performance and have identified three manager skills that need to be reinforced. Manager training will be scheduled and is mandatory to ensure all staff have access to success." This brings the temperature down for staff, pulling them away from the need to critique your system because the organization knows how to hold itself accountable.

6 steps to build trust In performance management process: 1.Clear communication of expectations and goals 2. Consistent and fair evaluation processes. 3. Transparent feedback and improvement opportunities. 4. Managerial support and employee involvement. 5. Data security and confidentiality assurance. 6. Adaptability to changing needs and concerns.

The performance management process often involves cumbersome paperwork and documentation. Based on my experience, I believe that an ideal performance management process should include user-friendly and intuitive software. This approach allows us to analyze data more effectively, improves employee engagement during the assessment process, and ultimately leads to a more well-rounded and efficient performance management process.