Performance is a Two Way Street
It’s summertime and for many professionals in education that means it’s time for their annual performance review. No other industry is as unified in the timing of this approach.
Other organizations review employees at the anniversary of the their date of hire. Some do it close to the end of the calendar year. Regardless of the timing — or the industry — the annual performance review process still clings to some woefully outdated practices that don’t serve anyone.
Want to refresh your process? Here are some suggestions.
- An annual review may as well be a once-per-decade check-in at this point. The pace of work has escalated and meaningful feedback is best delivered in real-time. For a supervisor to save a list of the employee’s challenges and be delivering news that is 8 months old is disingenuous. It does more damage than good because it gives the employee more time to solidify the bad habits you are now telling them you wish they would change.
This lack of real-time feedback is one factor causing tremendous disconnect between the Millennial generation and their Gen X or Baby Boomer supervisors. Millennials want to hear from their supervisors often, but older generations are more used to an outdated model of annual performance review.
Today, a system that utilizes real-time feedback, combined with a more formal quarterly check-in is much more effective to support your employees.
2. Feedback needs to be constructive and actionable. Telling a customer service employee that they “don’t come across as very nice” is not particularly helpful. What does that mean exactly? They don't’ smile enough? The tone of their voice is edgy?
A more meaningful way to work with this same employee might be to say something like, “I’ve noticed that when you are giving a response to a customer, you are so focused on solving their problem and getting the answer right, that you skip the pleasantries and come across as robotic. People gravitate to our company because they can talk with a real person. While your interactions are technically correct, I believe that you could improve your performance and enhance your credibility with our customers if you thought of each interaction as building a relationship with that person, instead of just solving their problem.” Then, take some time to role play a couple of scenarios with that same employee to demonstrate what you improvement you are seeking.
3. Provide coaching and on-going support. If you want to crate meaningful growth in an employee, you can’t just dump information on them once a year and expect them to magically change. Remember, if it were easy they would already be doing a better job at what you are asking of them.
Be sure to provide them with the support necessary to be successful. Would participation in a training or leadership program help? Could you hire a business coach for them if you are short on time to personally invest in their development? Don't feel like this all has to fall to you, and be sure to take advantage of the resources available outside of your organization.
4. Ask for feedback in return. Employees don’t leave their company, they leave their boss. The days of uni-directional feedback are over and as a manager or leader, you have to be as comfortable getting feedback as you are giving it. Are you giving your direct reports an opportunity to give you feedback? Have you adapted your style to fit the needs of each employee? No one will respond to you and your leadership in the same way, and practicing adaptive leadership is the key to your success as a supervisor.
Instead of just dumping information in your employee’s lap and having them sign a piece of paper saying you evaluated them, ask them questions. Start a dialogue. Listen. What do they enjoy about working for you? How could you communicate better with your employees? Do they feel that you are giving them feedback that they can take action on?
Why ask your employees for feedback when you are also being evaluated by your supervisor? Because your boss is evaluating you as their employee — not their leader. Your direct-reports are in the best position to evaluate your leadership and help you grow.
5. Validate their strengths. No one likes to be on the receiving end of a laundry list of things that aren’t going well. It is just as important to affirm positive and desired behaviors as it is to give constructive feedback.
This is a sticking point for many mangers today, again with the Millennial generation. We know that this a generation who has grown-up receiving lots of positive feedback. If you go radio-silent on them, you many not be meeting their expectations in this regard.
What I tell my coaching clients is that it’s not necessary to manufacture positive feedback. Today’s mindset should be one where you know your employees strengths and take opportunities to provide positive reinforcement when you see it. Find the balance that works for both of you — with you getting used to giving more praise than you are used to, and them receiving a little less than they may be used to.
