Performance Reviews Don't Have to Suck!

October is performance management month. Not officially of course, but if your organization’s performance management process aligns with the calendar year chances are reviews are due by January.

Perhaps more so than any leadership responsibility managers are challenged – even pained – by performance reviews. For most, there is the general feeling that reviews are time-consuming and don’t help to identify top performers. Dissatisfaction among employees is equally negative in that they perceived as demotivating, inaccurate, biased, and unfair – they don’t represent an accurate depiction of the employee’s quality or worth. The general sense is that all parties involved dread this process.

When it comes time to completing the reviews the scenario typically looks something like this:

HR sends an email with plenty of notice announcing the process and timeline. We glance and put it in our short-term memory with a flag to complete, then delete the notice and carry on until the next reminder hits the top of our inbox. Some of us may even go as far as telling ourselves this year will be different – 'this year I’ll get a jump on it'. Any yet, we wait until the week or days before to complete all the reviews at once. ?

The higher you rise in any organization, the more dependent you are on subordinates’ performance. If we know the value of feedback and development for ourselves and others, why do we struggle to make the review process suck less?

This month’s Coffee Break! article provides six simple actions to begin taking today that can shift your approach to maximize effectiveness and save you unnecessary stress later.

Preparation is usually indicative of result. In my conversations with leaders the struggle with performance reviews is more often self-inflicted than process-related. The intention of this article is to help managers instill a process that is planned and conducted so it becomes repeatable. Following these recommendations can improve employee performance, while also giving managers a more effective structure so that the sometimes difficult, but necessary, conversations have a greater impact on person, team, and organization.

1. Start now, don’t rely on your memory later. Let’s acknowledge this is very simple in theory and difficult in practice in a world where our ‘to do’ list is ever-expanding. Here’s the thing: nobody likes the weekly reminders – it’s one more task for HR and one more email in your inbox.Start with one hour each week (not on a Friday) to review the performance management process and form, compile metrics and feedback, review 1:1 notes, etc. This prep time can support you in having everything dialed in ahead of the performance conversation so that you can facilitate one that is focused on what’s important, expected, and how you will get there together.
2. Consult your HR Business Partner. If there was a time to lean on this person, this is it. The confusion of performance reviews is not limited to new managers. Your BP is your advisor who can share best practices, insights, and recommendations to ensure you are 1) checking all the boxes, especially if a person is trending north for a promotion or south for structured improvement, and b) providing your team with the necessary and accountable feedback and attention they deserve. Ask about the nuances that impact performance reviews – judgements, biases, observations, patterns, behaviors, and actions.
3. Talk with your peers. If a team member worked on a cross-functional project, seize this opportunity to spend time with the other leader/team asking about the quality of their work, contributions, achievements, and interpersonal dynamics. This helps reduce subjectivity, something that often clouds our ability to give clear and substantiated feedback. Optimize the value of feedback by taking it from the people directly involved and impacted.
4. Commit to giving each review 100% of your attention. I’ve seen it hundreds of times: a manager will work on multiple reviews simultaneously with the intention of knocking them out at once. This is ineffective and doesn’t provide value. Performance reviews are specific to each individual and each review deserves your organized thoughts and undivided attention. Avoid rushed or quick reviews as they leave people confused and unvalued.
5. Build a case. Whether it is discipline or promotion you are going to be asked for documentation to support your decision. This is where ongoing notes is critical to your success in managing performance. Notes don’t need to be a biography; they simply need to capture the essence of the conversation and any specifics that may justify a decision (this aligns with #1).
6. Share the performance review with the person ahead of the conversation. By giving your team members the opportunity to review the document allows them to come prepared with questions, or better, information to support their performance. Unfortunately, ill-informed ratings do happen and most of the time it’s not intentional; the manager may be missing information (see #3).

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