It’s annual review season. You and your direct reports are probably as keen as each other to get it over and done with. When handled properly, the appraisal can inspire solid performers and reignite the poor ones. When mishandled (and I am thinking particularly of that old ‘sandwich’ technique here) they are tense affairs, full of mixed messages that lead to either no change in performance or even worse, a reduction. It might be better not to do them at all rather than have an artificial, box ticking exercise.
Here are some thoughts on how to use the appraisal as an opportunity to move your employees as far forward as possible.
Feedback is for the whole year, not just for Christmas
The appraisal is not a time for delivering surprises. Instead, it should be an uncomplicated summary of the year’s performance and an opportunity to agree objectives for the next year. Don’t bottle up issues, either good or bad, for the annual review. Address performance issues in real-time and deal with problems as they occur. Feedback should be continuous, verbal and written – formally or informally as appropriate – so it is traceable. It must be job-relevant and future-orientated. Keep it short and specific, so there is no ambiguity about what is working well and what isn’t. If you haven’t done this throughout the year and are saving up for the review, then you have the problems of time lag, selective memory and escalated problems. In addition, there is probably a lack of trust and respect between you and your employee, which is unlikely to set healthy conditions for the appraisal.
Do the groundwork
About two weeks before, ask your employee to make a note of what they have achieved this year against their objectives. What are they most proud of, what do they want to replicate next year and what would they would like to improve? This sets a positive focus and gives them responsibility for their own performance. You also need to go over your records on that employee, as well as gathering feedback from other sources. (You should have made it clear at the beginning of the year how you will be evaluating performance. Make sure you have all that information to hand). If your system involves a formal written appraisal then let them read it an hour or so before they meet with you, to give them time to manage their initial emotional response in private. Before your meeting, take time to think through the clear messages you want to give them.
Keep it clear and constructive
Most people are perfectly competent at their jobs and aware of their own development areas. The better the self-awareness, the more they can self-appraise. Keep the review positive and concentrate on the things they have done well to build their confidence for next year. Make them think about how they can continue to build on their strengths and achievements. This is how you make your organisation even better.
If there is underperformance, then confront it head on and don’t make them read between the lines. What is not working? What actions do they need to take to make it work? Focus on behaviours, not character traits. Be specific – “you need to double your call rates to potential clients” not “you should be on the phone more.” Avoid an authoritarian style but equally don’t shirk from asking what you want. Demand an improvement: tell them what they should stop doing and what you want them to start doing instead. Define what success in the role should look like. Remember that people only hear what they want to hear so be very specific about your expectations. Keep a clear record.
Recent research has found that negative feedback delivered constructively can promote greater performance benefits than positive feedback. So, you aren’t doing anyone a favour by sugar-coating negative feedback.
Deal with the money first
Ideally the performance review should be separate from the salary review. However, if you have to combine them, deal with the money first to get it out of the way so the employee can concentrate on performance issues.
Post-appraisal
Now that the appraisal box is ticked, is it back to work as normal? The evidence is that real performance improvement only occurs when an organisation/employer genuinely shows a culture of support for development and maintains the continuous feedback and interest throughout the year. The new objectives need to be relevant and the employee needs to feel confident that they will be supported by their manager.
What works for the experts
Jonathan McGill has managed teams of between 10 and 250 people and turned around serious underperformance (including in an Argentinian paper-mill). He says ‘Never delay feedback on poor performance to the annual appraisal. Address it when it happens. If you need to address poor performance during the appraisal, encourage the appraisee to identify and comment on the performance before adding your feedback. The appraisee needs to take ownership.’
From an HR perspective, Amira Kohler (www.people-stuff.co.uk) has redeveloped performance management processes in many global organisations including British Airways, HSBC, and EMI Music. ‘I see a lot of well-meaning leaders and HR departments who over-burden their organisation with complex appraisal processes and then wonder why performance reviews are seen as painful and pointless. I provide clients with simple templates, ‘how to’ guides, crib sheets and bite-sized training sessions for managers and employees to remind them how to do it right. My mantra is: let’s make this stuff easy, because it matters.’
I hope this is helpful and would be really interested in your experiences of positive and negative reviews. I had one client who had their whole annual performance appraisal left as a voicemail message…
Thank you to everyone for their support this year. I look forward to helping plenty more people make really smart moves either in their own organisation or externally in 2014. Call me to talk about coaching , career confidence workshops and personal branding. And watch this space for news of a minor rebrand and some major collaborations.
Happy holidays.