Feedback and feedforward are the cornerstone of a good performance review!
You too have nightmares before you have to discuss your direct reports’ annual performance? Come March you would rather fly to a deserted island than start the performance review cycle?
A survey conducted by Betterworks has shown that two third of managers feel they are not equipped to discuss the performance with their direct reports.
What’s the reason behind this common fear? There’s more than one. Managers are afraid to ruin the relationship or feel inadequate to manage an emotional reaction. Other Managers, deep down, are questioning the relevance of the performance review.
These thoughts emotionally charge the interview and the aim of the meeting, namely the direct report development, becomes irrelevant compared to the need to show who is right on the evaluation.
But, if you have offered feedback and feedforward during the year, you have created the conditions for a shared and objective performance review discussion.
I have worked with a company which just recently has introduced the self-evaluation in their performance review process. Employees in most cases, out of fear to be judged bad workers, have rated themselves “above expectations” or “greatly exceeding expectations”.
I’m sure you also had to talk, at least once, with a direct report who overestimated their skills!
So, how can you prepare for a successful performance review conversation? Here are my steps.
Prepare by selecting examples and situations in which you have observed your direct report perform well or under perform.
Start the conversation by clarifying the objective of the meeting, namely the development of skills and competencies. I repeat, the conversation should not be about the final rating.
Listen to your direct report’s reasons for their self-evaluation. Provide your own examples only after.
Your language should be clean, full of examples and void of judgement on the person.
The most important advice, one that I always follow is to be aware of my intention in the conversation. I remind myself that I want to offer my sincere point of view to enlarge the feedback receiver perspective, so that they can decide what and how to change.
In most cases, these rules will allow you to strengthen your relationship with the feedback receiver, clarify your expectations and create the foundation for a fruitful future collaboration.
However, there are cases in which these steps are not enough. How do you deal with emotional outbursts or a heated discussion? Read the article “The Performance Review: dealing with high emotions and resistance”