‘Tis the season for end-of-year performance reviews. Is it possible to find joy in this process?

‘Tis the season for end-of-year performance reviews.?Is it possible to find joy in this process?

I know that combining “joy” and “performance reviews” in the same sentence may feel like a leap too far for many of you, but I recently spoke with an inspirational business leader who felt otherwise.?I’d encourage you to take a cue from this leader: he has been doing this expertly for 20 years, truly embraces the human-to-human connection and understanding that comes from this process, and has built incredible followership by approaching it this way.?

?First, some basics

Let’s first anchor on what performance management really is.?The whole concept has come full circle over the past decade: from “forced distribution” of ratings, to doing away with the process altogether, to “agile performance management,” and more. ?Despite the fads, there are certain fundamentals that most firms eventually end up returning to:

·??????Focusing on a small set of powerful, well-constructed goals set at the beginning of the year.?This keeps us all aligned, clarifies the expectations for great performance, and ideally connects our own work to the broader goals of the company.?This is important for making performance management a strategy execution exercise, not just an administrative exercise.?It also makes end-of-year assessment more straightforward by linking back to how well the initial goals were achieved.

·??????A structured way of gathering honest, thoughtful feedback.?The kind of feedback that makes you feel seen, understood, and appreciated – even when that feedback describes, with care, what didn’t go so well and what you could have done differently to be more effective.?Even better if this includes “multi-rater” feedback, or feedback from people you’ve worked with beyond your direct manager.

·??????Ongoing conversations or “check ins” throughout the year.?Feedback should be ongoing and timely, not saved up for months until the next review.?Ideally, the end of year discussion is a synthesis of feedback points discussed throughout the year. It should not include any major surprises because we’ve discussed issues as they’ve come up and revisited goals on a regular basis to ensure that we stay on track.?

·??????Some way for leaders to “calibrate” that we’ve assessed performance consistently across the group.?During a “calibration meeting,” leaders are presented with a summary of their team’s performance assessments and ask each other: did we define top performance in the same way across all parts of this group??Were we too lax or too strict with any one group but not another??If performance ratings are being used, leadership also studies the distribution of ratings across various sub-groups to drive a fair process and question any anomalies.?

·??????At the end of the annual cycle, relying on a good, quality career conversation between manager and employee – not just templates or matrices.?This is what matters most at the end of the day, and what all the process steps leading up to this point are simply about, is preparing for a robust conversation that strengthens trust and gives confidence for the path forward – even if/when some things needs improvement next year.?At Hines, we hear from our people that this conversation is what they want most from their managers.?As managers, putting thought and care into doing this well is one of the most important parts of our jobs.

?Growth mindset: The master key

One of the big assumptions behind a process like this is that people have a growth mindset: they want to learn, there is always room to grow, and skills and talents can be enhanced over time. ?It’s a big assumption, because not everyone has a growth mindset.?With a growth mindset, knowing that you could be doing something differently or better isn’t viewed as a personal attack – rather it’s a natural part of growing. ?Performance is never only all good or all bad, it’s always nuanced - there is always room to grow, therefore there is always feedback to learn from.?Individuals with a growth mindset seek feedback proactively, which is taken with resilience particularly when the feedback is constructive.?

In contrast, with a fixed mindset (the belief that one’s skills and talents are largely unchangeable) feedback can feel incredibly threatening and painful, because it can seem like a judgement on things outside of our control, or even who we are fundamentally.?If you dread having a performance-related discussion (either from the manager or employee point of view) or find yourself feeling highly defensive to feedback you receive, you might consider if a fixed mindset is at the root of your dread.

The leader I mentioned above stated it this way: “This should be a joyful process.”?Hoping you can find your own version of joy as a result of a quality, clarifying, thoughtful, two-way performance conversation that’s focused on personal growth and mutual success.?While the work required to do so might feel like a lot of steps, particularly at scale, - and the feedback received may include areas for improvement – that’s how we grow.