Performance Reviews Need Not Be a Daunting Task
By Marcia Hammonds
Ideas on how to make this a much better process:
In all my years of experience as an HR professional, working in both a consulting and operations capacity, I have seldom come across managers who look forward to, or fully embrace, the Annual Performance Review process – and more specifically the actual review discussion itself. This continues to both surprise and concern me, given I know how important their team is to the overwhelming majority of managers, and how they themselves want and need constructive and productive feedback from their own leaders. However, regardless of how much value is placed on an organizations’ most important asset , its’ people, and how widely accepted best practice Performance Management appears to be in today’s workplace, nothing provides managers with more missed opportunities and moments of frustration than the annual performance review process and discussion.
One of the key reasons for this apparent disconnect in terms of intention and outcome, is the tendency for inexperienced managers to focus on the mechanics of the process (e.g., forms, rating scales, procedures, etc.) as opposed to the actual ongoing performance level of the team member and the potential for the positive communications and interactions that these observations can and should support.
Another reason that many managers and employees “dread” the annual review is that rather than it being the culmination of ongoing informal and formal feedback sessions whereby issues of concern and areas worthy of recognition are discussed through-out the entire review period (e.g., year), it is often the time that they feel compelled to bring up situations of concern for the first time, “so that it can be documented”. The employee often reacts negatively to this more formal and permanent documentation of something that hadn’t been addressed before.
Effective performance management can and should be utilized to address serious issues related to a team member’s work and/or behaviour. Having said that, the annual performance review conversation itself should not be uncomfortable or confrontational in most instances, but based on the ongoing dialogue and comfort level that will have been established by discussing performance issues throughout the entire performance period.
The review is intended to bring together all previous discussions, communications and observations in a comprehensive and forward-thinking positive way. This approach does take time and a dedicated effort to communicate on an ongoing basis with your team. But again, the question for me is “why wouldn’t a manager feel it important to take this time with what is always identified as an organizations’ biggest asset – its people”? Personally, I would be quite offended if my direct supervisor did not make me and my overall performance within my job and company a priority in terms of their time and commitment; and in turn if this was the case I am confident my engagement and productivity would be negatively impacted as a result.)
All this is well and good, but the question still remains as to where the responsibility of senior leadership lies in ensuring that effective performance management is not simply something taken from the Employee Policy Manual? For the most part, it is accepted that all good managers want to do right by their team in terms of performance management, and the ongoing review and communication process. Unfortunately, this process can falter when there is a significant gap between a manager’s intentions and their abilities and experience in this area. To that end, senior leadership cannot simply assume that because a manager has strong general leadership abilities and/or potential that they will, by extension, be able to appropriately execute the various components required for meaningful performance management. As a result, senior leaders need to accurately assess practical competency in this area, and subsequently train and support the growth and development required to address identified gaps. We need to work with and support our managers, until we are comfortable in their capacity to communicate with their teams in a way that fosters a continued sense of empowerment and team – and thus champion a successful performance management system.
None of this is simple or quick, but well worth it if we are to have engaged and productive teams.