Tis the season… I hear many a manager saying, “Ugh! I’ve GOT to do performance reviews!” To make it a little easier, change how you see your role.
Too many leaders feel as though they must be critics or judges when it comes to performance reviews. They don’t like the role they think they are expected to play.
They fear having to deliver potentially negative feedback. Some lack confidence. Some simply don’t like speaking directly about performance issues. Some rather focus on other business activities. And some really don’t have a clue about how a person has performed throughout the year. They’ve been managing from a distance and haven’t been involved enough to assess performance well.
From Critic to Coach
If you’re a leader expected to conduct performance reviews, see yourself as coach. A good coach can deliver candid feedback while helping the employee leverage strengths and improve where needed. A good coach can inspire confidence and actions to help an employee perform at his best. It’s a catalytic role that can actually build a stronger relationship and be a positive experience when you view it that way.
Here are some quick tips on how to be “coach-like” in your reviews:
- Focus on strengths. Don’t dwell on weaknesses, unless those weaknesses are relevant to the job. Then help the person identify ways to improve.
- Clarify the goal. An employee should be excited about achieving a professional or business goal. If not, find out why.
- Prompt action. Work with the employee to develop concrete action steps. “Work better with internal customers” is not concrete enough. “Make a call next week to connect with your top three customers” is better.
- Ask questions. Don’t try to figure out everything for the person. Get the employee to think, to develop his own solutions.
- Establish measures of success. Collaboratively determine what success will look like throughou the upcoming year. What will be the first milestone?
Critics focus on what’s happened. Coaches focus on what’s possible. You may not have a choice when it comes to reviews, but you can choose your role. Choose wisely.
For more suggestions on how to make the most of performance reviews, see my WorkMatters Tips issue on the topic of performance reviews.
http://gaylelantz.typepad.com/workmatters/2007/11/performance-rev.html
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https://workmatters.com/signup/index.htm