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Performance Pointers Archives Performance reviews as a development tool For managers and employees alike, the annual performance review is a process from hell. For both, trying to reconstruct all that went well in the past year is a nightmare, and for the manager, multiply that times 10 or so. It is extremely difficult to avoid homing in on more recent events, particularly if the employee recently mishandled a task or missed an important deadline. It’s not that managers don’t try, but that’s the way human memory works: what happened last week simply has greater impact than what happened 11 months ago. The net effect is often that the employee feels unjustly penalized for a few recent mistakes. She’ll feel that all her excellent work before the incident has been overlooked. Even when the manager manages to strike a good balance, the pressure from her boss to highlight the infraction more, and downgrade the review can be intense. When I work with individual clients, I encourage them to keep an achievement log throughout the year, in preparation of the review. If they are in leadership positions, I encourage them to keep logs for all their staff, as well. Recently, I was asked for my advice on implementing a new performance management system. As I worked with the HR team, naturally the annual review came up. When I suggested that the company institute quarterly reviews - they all groaned, and insisted that nobody had time for one per year, let alone four. However, we continued our discussions, and the breakthrough came when I used the term ‘development meeting’. As I explained, the difference between a formal performance review and a development meeting is that the one looks to the past, and the other looks to the future. A performance review is still mostly one-way, with the manager ‘judging’ the employee’s performance. A formalized, structured development meeting, however, is - and should be - a two-way conversation, with the manager encouraging the employee to identify development areas, and the employee actively analyzing her own performance to do so. After three quarterly performance reviews, that are actually formal development meetings, there is a record of the employee’s performance over the past 9 months ... an excellent basis to complete the annual review, which is linked to compensation. Besides being the antidote to a bias towards recent events, it is also a great way to build and strengthen the employee’s performance. Catch performance issues early, treat them in a timely fashion, and lo-and-behold: productivity goes up, confidence grows, additional responsibilities can be taken on, and employees feel heard and taken seriously. When you do the math, it’s really a no-brainer. The positive effects of discussing performance more often are well worth the extra time investment. Page 34 of 36 pages « First < 32 33 34 35 36 >
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