Change Your Thinking Re: Performance Management

Employers have a large foothold in the employee development process. Performance reviews are a must for the health of your workforce, but what you do with the results of the performance appraisal makes a bigger impact on employee development. To see positive outcomes from employee performance appraisals, employers have to adjust the way they view the process in the first place. Organizations have to create relationships between the performance reviews and employee development.

Our whitepaper, “Bridge the Gap Between Your Performance Reviews and Employee Development - or Both Are Primed To Fail,” discusses the importance of building that bridge:

“The question becomes even more perplexing when you consider how important performance reviews are to effective employee development. Done correctly, performance reviews inspire greater and greater levels of success. They motivate our people to contribute toward critical business goals to develop their skill sets, and to reach their full potential.”

Let’s delve into this further...

Change Your Performance Appraisal Process

Performance reviews are just a fraction of your performance management system’s capabilities. Many employees expect a performance appraisal, but it doesn’t excite them for the growth that will happen as a result: but for the standard 3% base salary raise [1].

Rather than allowing performance reviews to generate a formulaic stigma, change the way your team thinks about performance appraisals. An astonishing 58% of companies say their current performance management isn’t an effective use of time. That needs to change.

Organizations need to update the way they perpetuate sentiments regarding performance appraisals. Simply stated, employees want to grow. Nearly three-quarters of employees would rather receive corrective feedback [2] than positive affirmation. The problem is that managers are reluctant to give the feedback employees need in order to develop professionally. How can you change this? By making the performance appraisal mean something again. Use the information you have to your employees’ best advantage. Lead them! 

Change Your Performance Management

Employers understand the need to change their performance management systems. Currently, 70% of organizations [3] are evaluating or have recently reviewed and updated their systems. That’s a good start, but the evolution has to be more than systematic. More than 90% of managers aren’t satisfied with their current review systems [4]. Leadership has the ability to turn the thought process around, however.  Supervisors need to be trained on how to give feedback, both negative and positive. Managers want education in how to give feedback; in fact 46% of them want guidance in these sometimes stressful conversations.

A key driver to employee growth after the results of a performance appraisal is how the manager delivers the feedback. Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, CEO and President of Zenger/Folkman respectively, said: 

“...We find it telling that the people who find it difficult and stressful to deliver negative feedback also were significantly less willing to receive it themselves. On the other hand, those who rated their managers as highly effective at providing them with honest, straightforward feedback tended to score significantly higher on their preference for receiving corrective feedback.” 

See Results in Your Team

Both manager and employee need to have a hand in career development. Although employee development is largely in their own hands, they can only do so if they have the right tools… feedback is one of these tools. Effective performance management starts with thorough performance appraisals and delivers the direction and support employees need to grow. To see performance results in your employees, BLR recommends managers be trained to [5]:

●      Develop a close working relationship with employees

●      Create continuous opportunities for constructive feedback

●      Be proactive about addressing marginal performance

●      Ensure employees understand company performance standards

While 90% don’t feel performance appraisals actually boost performance [6], they can if they are conducted differently. Start by training managers to give meaningful and regular feedback. Companies that take performance reviews as more than a formality and conduct them more frequently see a 15% lower turnover rate.

Performance appraisals are key to healing your workforce. In order to see a change in the way your employees work, you have to change the stigma attached to performance management in your organization. A large percentage of companies are currently dissatisfied with their performance management systems; to restructure this takes some managerial training and employee performance appraisals that include constructive (not just positive) points. 

Employee feedback should be more than a corporate formality, it should be a route to develop workers. Take a demo of Reviewsnap to see how you can restructure your performance management with the right solution.

Sources:

[1] SHRM - Base Salary Rise of 3% Forecast for 2015

[2] Harvard Business Review - Your Employees Want the Negative Feedback You Hate to Give

[3] Dupress - Performance Management is Broken

[4] Washington Post - Talent Matters: Four ways to get improved performance

[5] HR.BLR.com - Training Issues Among Reasons for Shortfalls in Performance Management

[6] OfficeVibe - 13 Disappointing Performance Appraisals Facts You Really Need to Know (Infographic)

Explore Our Related Topics:

• Now What? Why Continuous Learning Improves Performance
• Calibrating Performance Appraisals
• Performance Reviews as a Roadmap for Success

How Starting a 360 Degree Feedback Process Improves Performance

Nearly 90% of organizations conduct formal performance reviews [1] as an attempt to improve their performance management. That is the vast majority of organizations, but the real question isn’t if they conduct performance reviews, it is how they evaluate their team members. What they don’t know could hurt them. The way you conduct a performance appraisal has a direct impact on employee performance. Typically, managers only see a 3-5% performance improvement [2] after a traditional performance appraisal. How then, can organizations assess the performance of their employees whilst improving the team’s work? 

360 degree feedback, if conducted correctly, can have better results than the traditional performance appraisal. Because there are multiple individuals involved in the appraisal, each person has a specific role. Let’s take a look...

Roles of the Participants
Unlike the traditional performance appraisal, the 360 degree feedback process is a very involved process. A standard performance appraisal only necessitates the presence of the manager and the employee. 360 degree feedback sessions involve the input of about 7 people (depending on the size of the company): the employee, manager, administrator, and several reviewers. This provides a well-rounded performance appraisal with room for the employee to evaluate their own work and see how it affects the team around them. Jacob Shriar, Director of Customer Happiness at Officevibe, said:

“Most of the time, the annual performance review is one-sided in the sense that it’s the manager who is telling the employee how they did and what they should do better, when it would be great if the employee could tell the manager what they’ve been doing wrong, or what the company could improve on.”

The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way; 360 degree feedback gives employees and those around them a voice in performance reviews. The evaluation of the entire team illuminates the employee’s performance from all angles, including their own. 

●      Employee - 360-feedback is the perfect opportunity for employees to become involved in their development process. The administrator works with the employees to design a plan to improve their performance, rather than the managers simply providing lists of successes and areas for improvement.

●      Manager - While a manager’s role in the 360 degree feedback is similar to that of the reviewer, the information gathered from the manager is significantly different. The administrator assesses this input differently because it is qualitatively divergent due to the contact with the employee.

●      Administrator - This is the person who will be conducting the interviews. They prepare the review and speak with the reviewers and the manager as a third party participant.

●      Reviewers - Similar to the manager’s role in this process, reviewers are interviewed about their coworker’s performance. Typically, there are 4-10 reviewers in a 360 degree feedback. 

Why they Work
The goal of a 360 degree feedback isn’t to punish. It is an opportunity to thoroughly examine and improve the performance of your team on an individual level to help the group succeed. These appraisals give employees ownership of their work and review. By working with employees on development plans, organizations hold their workers accountable for their performance. William Taylor, Contributor to PeopleInsight and HR Daily Advisor said:

“A 360 degree performance review has the power to transform a one-way review into a review process, thus guaranteeing end-to-end feedback and accountability. Depending on the setup and hierarchy of your company, making 360 degree reviews may be an excellent way to analyze your employees and keep an eye on the whole department.” 

Each individual involved in a 360 degree feedback plays a specific part. As an organization, it’s important to ensure your teams understand their roles before the review process begins. Unlike traditional performance reviews, the 360 degree feedback process creates a multi-sided conversation about performance from an unbiased third-party administrator. This administrator takes information provided by the employee, manager, and other reviewers to create a holistic image of the employee’s performance. Give your employees the chance to take ownership of their performance and their professional development.

Consider starting a 360 degree feedback program to get employees involved and engaged. Take a demo of Reviewsnap to get fast and easy employee feedback to improve performance.  

Source:
[1] NPR - Behold the Entrenched and Reviled Annual Review

[2] Washington Post - The Corporate Kabuki of Performance Reviews

6 Ways Great Leaders Conduct an Effective Performance Appraisal

As a supervisor, there are some tasks that are less than enjoyable. More often than not, the employee performance appraisal is one of those responsibilities.  Like all things, practice makes perfect, and the same could be said for conducting an effective and engaging performance appraisal. With a little finesse and some organization, you can conduct better performance reviews for the benefit of you and your employees.

1. Prepare Ahead of Time

In order to provide clear and concise performance feedback, organizing thoughts is key to staying on track. This means you have to understand the employee's job, the requirements associated with it, as well as how their actual performance rates against the predetermined expectations. Prepare an itinerary ahead of time complete with open-ended questions to prompt conversation with your employee.

2. It's a Conversation

You're not the only one in the room so you shouldn't be the only one talking. While it is a discussion about the employee’s performance, they should have an input as well. Harold M. Messmer, Jr. (@RobertHalfFA), Chairman and CEO of Robert Half said:

“Keep in mind you’re having a two-way discussion. This is not a criticism session, so avoid detailing every mistake an employee has made and don’t dominate the conversation. Make it instead a chance to discuss a team member’s strengths and weaknesses in the context of his or her achievements over the review period.”

3. Don't be Afraid to Confront

Positive reinforcement is a good practice to uphold, however, not every employee is going to have a performance appraisal that is all shooting stars. Only 35% of high performing employees feel their supervisors speak with them honestly about their performance. Some managers would rather avoid confrontation than explain how exactly an employee can improve performance. Keep in mind these are critiques, so they are meant to aid the employee.

Tweet This: Only 35% of high performing employees feel their supervisors speak with them honestly about their performance.

4. Provide a Takeaway

Unfortunately, 98% of employees see their performance reviews as a waste of time. Give your employees something to learn from the meeting. No one is perfect, so there is always something new to try or practice to change. If you or your employees haven’t gleaned anything from the performance appraisal, was it really worth it? Professionals spend enough time in meetings they don’t need to be in. You can save yourself and your team a lot of time by building the performance review around key takeaways.

5. Change the Orientation

You've already noticed a reason for change in your current performance appraisal process. Maybe it's simply the way you position the meeting in the first place. Depending on the disposition and learning style of your employees, adjust the review accordingly. Try taking these approaches to adjust the performance appraisal for different employees:

• Learning goal-oriented: These are the employees that enjoy learning for the sake of gaining knowledge and who pursue challenges despite setbacks.
• Performance-prove goal-oriented: These employees want to perform at their best in order to prove their competence in a position.
• Performance-avoid goal-oriented: These employees don’t want to look foolish and may not take direct criticism well.

6. Focus on the Progress

A main component of failed performance appraisal processes is that they are just that, nothing more than a required process. Since you have several employees to take care of in your department, it does not give reason to allow the meaning of the review to slip through the cracks. Get rid of the “good job” and “this needs improvement” statements, and focus on how much the employee has grown and where their development can take them in the company.

Employees typically dread the performance appraisal, but they don’t have to. Supervisors aren’t fond of the practice either. However, if the reviews are conducted in a more discussion-oriented manner with an emphasis on progress and providing a helpful takeaway. As a manager, you can conduct performance reviews better by communicating goals and expectations before the review. Prepare questions to prompt discussion, and target communication with your employees to set the stage for a more productive team and a review that is worth the time of you and your employee.

The performance appraisal is part of your responsibility as a leader.

Take a demo to see how Reviewsnap can help you conduct them better.

Explore Our Related Topics:

• Are We Doing Enough to Develop Future Leaders?
• Negotiating vs. Dictating Performance Goals
• Performance Measurement is Not a CYA Activity

3 Steps You Should Take Before the Next Round of Performance Reviews

Supervisors need performance appraisals and so do employees, if not for the direct impact to drive business, at least for the professional satisfaction of both parties. In order to better employee performance, they have to know where their shortcomings lay first before they are criticized for underperformance. Performance reviews help to keep this growth system regulated to get the most out of the entire process.

More or less a formality for many organizations, there are clear performance-related indicators that your current method of review doesn't quite live up to expectations. Fewer than 30% of organizations feel their performance management program drives performance at all. That's why there are an overabundance of articles telling companies to scrap the idea of a performance appraisal rather than update a highly antiquated process. What these organizations don't know is that companies who institute regular and frequent performance reviews see a 15% lower turnover rate. The performance appraisal process needs a remodel, but that can't happen unless there's a stepping-stone to start from. So, let me be your stepping stone...

Set the Bar

Preparing for an employee evaluation can mean the difference in the success or failure of the review. One out of 5 employees don’t feel their manager is prepared for the performance review. Part of that preparation is making sure your team understands the review process. Before the performance appraisal, give employees an overview of what they are expected to accomplish and what they will be evaluated on during their review. It is important to delineate the following before the performance appraisal so employees are clearly aware of what the process entails:

●      What are the expectations between appraisals?

●      How will performance be evaluated?

●      What are the ramifications of good and poor performance?

Performance reviews are widely misunderstood by employees. Often seen as the dreaded formality, one of the biggest problems is that they don't know what they are expected to do. It is your job to ensure they understand how not only their work currently affects the organization, but how they will bring value in the future.

Employee Participation

The very basis of a productive work environment and relationship among the team is communication. Performance reviews are not one-sided, or at least they shouldn't be. The dialogue between a supervisor and their employee is invaluable to the successful outcome of a performance appraisal. All too often, it becomes a situation in which management talks at members of their team versus creating a communication-centric atmosphere.

Today's workforce is highly collaborative. Yes, that includes performance. Employees want a role in their performance reviews; they want to work towards a common goal of solving performance issues or communicating why they felt they performed well over the past quarter. Karima Mariama-Arthur (@WSRapport), Founder & CEO of WordSmithRapport said:

"Performance reviews aren't only about identifying blind spots. They also offer an opportunity to highlight excellence. If you don't offer balanced evaluations, you're not maximizing their potential to inspire your team's performance."

Include Technology

While that relationship does form the base of the performance appraisal, that doesn't mean technology can't play a role. Just as it can automate processes in the hiring process, it can also take the mundane tasks off of your plate as a supervisor. A performance management system can help to track employee progress from one appraisal to another. In fact, 30% of HR professionals rank performance management as a top priority in their companies.

Many organizations already use a performance management system, and the software they purchased a decade ago doesn't quite cut it anymore. Companies are beginning to recognize the need to change their current processes in accordance with the changes in the advancing workforce. Larger organizations are especially ready for the change, as a surprising 29% of them have had their performance management system for more than 7 years. With ineffective and outdated systems, it stands to reason that performance reviews would be similarly ineffective and unappreciated.

Tweet This: 29% of large organizations have had their performance management system for more than 7 years.

After all, the goal of the evolving performance appraisal is to have a more meaningful outcome, i.e., better employee performance. For employees to get the most out of their performance appraisal, it's important they have a role in the discussion. Rather than a flat resolution of mere problems, well-rounded and highly effective performance reviews are multidimensional involving successes, issues and employee goal alignment.

You are responsible for defining what the performance appraisal means for your company.

Take the first step with a demo of Reviewsnap.

More from Reviewsnap:

• How to Track Organizational Goals with Performance Management
• For Feedback to Be Effective, Put First Things First
• Understanding the Way Minds Work: Think Like a CLO