How to Make Performance Reviews Not Stink
Wanda Thibodeaux
Executive ghostwriter, columnist; Host, Faithful on the Clock podcast
In an article for Forbes , Alexander Puutio said what we're all thinking -- most of the time, performance reviews are just...yeah, nobody'd complain if they got tossed in a blender, set on fire, dumped over a cliff, and buried under endangered plant species it's illegal to dig up.
The solution, according to Puutio, is for managers to focus on people's strengths. The approach leans on positive reinforcement , which encourages exploration and good risk taking. Although this option is a step in the right direction compared to reviews where managers berate you with a list of your "problems to fix," it's still missing a vital component.
Skills aren't all there is
Puutio encourages positive reinforcement within performance reviews with three tips:
These tips are logical under the traditional concept of performance -- that is, good performance means you're tapping skills effectively. It is easily measured with appropriate metrics.
But performance is not just skills. Performance also involves character, which is built on specific values and ways of thinking.
Take active listening, which is a skill that's in high demand. A person could listen well, realize there's a vulnerability in a process, and exploit that vulnerability for their own gain. Alternatively, a person could listen well, realize there's vulnerability in a process, and alert management as a leader in developing a system to eliminate the vulnerability to protect the business.
Same skill.
Incredibly different results.
Character guides a person's decisions about what to do with the information they glean as they listen. This is why, even as we push for skills development as part of the personal growth journey, we also heavily assert and talk extensively about the need to build character to achieve success.
Yet, how often in a performance review have you ever had a boss laud your character traits? How often has a manager made a conscious effort to acknowledge a way in which you are a good person and strategically built tasks into your job based on it? I've had plenty of colleagues and project managers laud what I did, but virtually none who cheered who I was.
Why we skip the character assessment
Perhaps people hesitate to include character in performance reviews because it is more subjective and harder to measure. They might not feel comfortable telling employees how they have been "good" or "bad." Even with cancel culture barking, we've gotten the you-do-you message that says we're supposed to be inclusive and not judge.
But if you take Puutio's positive reinforcement suggestion and focus on what is kind, loving, ethical, and good for everyone, you should encourage workers to build up and exhibit those traits more, which should simultaneously diminish the desire to exhibit less desirable character elements.
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What people really want to hear in performance reviews
I would argue that the reason people come out of performance reviews feeling awful and struggling with their mental health is because, even if managers try to take a positive stance, it's all only about tasks. The questions in the mind of the worker thus are, "Have I done enough to earn my place?" and "Am I close to being able to rest yet?"
People learn they have no value and are invisible unless they can fill a quota or check a box. Even if managers focus on the skills they execute well, workers become afraid that if they do not do, they are nothing.
Yes, people need to know they have strong skills and can complete certain types of tasks well. That's still encouraging and grounding in its own way. But
what people really want to leave a performance review with is a sense that they are good enough as human beings, that they are worth keeping in the company as much for who they are as for what they finish. It's not "I do good work and, therefore, I am good," but rather, "I am good, therefore, I do good work."
Getting the healthy culture everybody wants
Company leaders talk all the time about the need for a strong, healthy culture and how that translates into high productivity . Perhaps a bit paradoxically, however, you get a strong, healthy culture only when people feel seen beyond what they can include on the skill section of a resume.
If you accept that concept, then businesses need a practical space in which to acknowledge strengths you see and feel instead of measure, such as integrity and courage. Performance reviews can be that space.
If we also heed Puutio's advice to let strengths shape roles, then we can use character in conjunction with skills to ensure people do work in line with who they are, such as someone with strong empathy becoming a nurse or someone with persistence becoming a researcher. And perhaps, when people know they are good people, we'll get the good business we're after, too.
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