Performance Conversations that Matter

Performance conversations can be the least favourite activity of people leaders at times. My article below will give tips on how to have better conversations and also tackle the why of having such conversations. Needless to say Performance Conversations should be on-going and continuous - not an annual or bi-annual conversation.

As a consultant\trainer\HR professional I have worked with supervisors on refining goal sheets and it is safe to say that - the quality of your conversation will entirely depend on the quality of your goal sheet.

The most popular myth is that the goal sheet should encapsulate the roles and responsibilities of the employee. Most supervisors will dump the entire contents of a job description in to a goal sheet and give a 5% or 10% weightage to every goal.

A JD or Job Description details the duties and responsibilities that entitle an employee for their base pay or basic salary - it is what you got hired for. At different points in a company's journey different duties will become more important than others.

A goal sheet is essentially connected to the organizational strategy - it should be designed to push the company to newer heights. As such a goal sheet should include goals that are of significance to the success of the company.

A goal sheet is the differentiator of performance - it is what tells the company the contribution you made. You should receive a bonus and increment based on your contribution to the department and organization at large.

If the goal sheet of an employee looks the same year on year - this means the said employee has not made a contribution towards the overall growth. Lets take a simple example of report generation - this goal can be enhanced or stretched to include items like - automation, new report formats, the speed in which it is generated etc.

Simple Tips for Preparing for a Performance Conversation

• Look at the previous years performance of the employee/do they have the right qualifications/when did the employee last yet a promotion/how long have they been in the company or this role?
• Plan your own rating and evaluation for each of the goals
• Ask the employee to share their own self evaluation first – this gives you input to prepare for the conversation
• Reflect on what kind of work have you observed them doing well
• Reflect on what kind of work they have been avoiding
• Reflect on what they are currently doing, has the role changed?
• What is one area of development that they would need

Simple Tips for Having Performance Discussions

Questions to include before you start the conversation

• Which goal did you like working on the most this year? (why)
• Which is your least favourite goal? (why)
• How can I help you achieve your goals?
• How did you think you have performed against last year – if they same goal has been repeated – what work have they done over and above the previous year in an attempt to improve the goal.
• What development areas do you think you have?

Why Performance Conversations Matter

1. Take time to have regular conversations with employees - while you may address the problem as it happens and it gets resolved – find time to sit with the employee later to share what they could have done better. Use the goal sheet of the employee as a conversation guide. This gives you an idea if you have the right goals for the employee in the first place. It will also give you an idea of what you need to change for the next FY.
2. Having regular conversations means that you save time and conflict when the final year review conversations happen.?
3. Don’t leave room for assumptions – silence is also a response. Silence means that everything is alright. Employees can get used to you solving their problems and may think that it is your job and not theirs. Having a year end conversation telling them they failed to do their job means is not fair. Accountability needs to be communicated. Not addressing performance issues and being in the habit of covering up for your employees will lead to accountability issues.
4. Trust issues - While it is up to you to put the final rating – not having regular and good performance conversations can lead to trust issues. Not trusting your supervisor can lead to further reduction in productivity and accountability.
5. Have empathy – we all want to know when our next promotion is, we all want to have recognition for work we do well, we all want to do a good job.?

At Thrive Hive Private Limited we provide solutions from giving a refresher to people leaders on having better performance conversations to more in-depth solutions, where we partner with your teams to create SMART goal sheets aligned to your organizational strategy.