LifeLabs Learning Lab Report - November 2022

The approach of the end of the year often means performance reviews are just around the corner. Re-watch October's Culture Club for tips on improving your company's performance review process.?

In this mini-workshop for People Ops professionals, LifeLabs Learning dispels the myths and shares the science behind how to best enable performance (hint: don't manage it!).?

Did you know that anonymous performance review feedback is less likely to catalyze action than identified feedback? It's also more likely to encourage employees to write "nice" or overly "critical" feedback. (Remember the ol'?Anytime Feedback Tool scandal at Amazon?a few years ago?)

While there are some pros to anonymity, for example, it can better accommodate workplaces that lack a feedback culture and can ease employees’ fear of retaliation,?we strongly encourage fostering a work culture that can support?identified feedback,?especially if your review system aggregates feedback from multiple sources.

Here are three pro tips that will set your team up for a fruitful experience.

1.Train managers and employees in feedback skills.?When it comes time to actually deliver reviews, help employees identify and share useful feedback. For best?results, offer a framework (along with review-relevant examples) that simplifies the complexity of feedback.

For example, at LifeLabs Learning, we’ve designed our Playing Cards Method? to give employees an easy-to-remember framework for telling apart high-quality and poor-quality feedback. Why? When people can spot the difference, their feedback quality quickly improves, which means they can provide higher-quality performance feedback and deliver better reviews.?

2. Make your review process forthright.?Ensure all employees know why your company runs periodic reviews, and how the data will be used. Why? Research shows that 71% of American employees thought their performance review process had fairness problems. If your team is rolling out identified reviews for the first time, knowing who will see their attributed responses and how the information will be used neutralizes fears of retaliation.

3. Take the middle path.?If you are looking for an in-between approach, two options to consider are making peer reviews confidential but not anonymous (so that at least managers can follow up to ask questions if needed) or you can give people the option of leaving identified or anonymous feedback — encouraging people to share their names and welcome further conversations.

Meetings Mastery:?How to optimize meetings at your company

Exclusive for?Culture Club members - a?monthly gathering for People Ops and HR professionals who are passionate about employee engagement and company culture.?November 8, 16, and 28, 2022.??Not a Culture Club member???Check it out and apply today!

Peak Performance: L&D Strategies for Enabling High Performing Teams

LifeLabs Learning and?360 Learning?talk?strategies for creating?an instantly useful L&D program with a clear ROI for the business.??November 9, 2022.

Want to learn how your organization can partner with LifeLabs Learning on thought leadership events??Email our Partnerships Lead?here.

General

• Resource suggestions for a?ticketing system for HR?
• Discussion on the?ratio of HR folks to headcount?for organizational planning purposes

Remote Work

• Recommendations of?companies to handle equipment management?for incoming/outgoing remote employees?
• Discussion of?how to get remote employees to read/use asynchronous documents?in order to cut down on meetings

Resilience

• Deep discussion and info on the?possible problematic use of the word "resilience"?in company values
• ?How organizations help employees facing?burnout and/or mental health issues

Are you ready to build engaged, high-impact teams?faster? Let's talk!