Another Performance Review

Shawnee Love   •  
April 21, 2011

Here are a couple of excerpts from an article on performance reviews by yours truly that was recently published in the Okanagan Business Examiner.

If you feel the performance review is a torture device foisted upon you by the Evil HR Director that would make Catbert look like a kitten, you are not alone. Your employees feel the same way.

Trying to sum up an entire year of blood, sweat and tears into a few tawdry pages of ratings or rankings doesn’t really fit what they do anyway. Worst of all, those rankings and ratings will establish who gets a raise and whether or not your employee will be perceived as being a team player on the fast track. Have you ever heard anyone say, ‘Hooray, I get a performance review?”

I confess. I hate the typical performance review. I bet you do too.

You should know I am not particularly interested in forcing employees to improve their weaknesses. It is far simpler, faster and more pleasurable for all involved to develop a talent or encourage a work-around strength than to beat your head against a weakness.

Competent performance begins with the employee who has the skills, talents, experience, fit, and desire to meet the job’s expectations. It is the hiring manager’s role to assess prospects and select the candidate that ideally exceeds, but at least meets, the minimum requirements and is highly motivated.

Unfortunately, many poor performers are in the wrong job or the wrong environment and, if you hire someone to answer phones who hates talking on the telephone or other similar misfits between the employee’ talents and the job, your challenge is with staffing and selection systems, not the performance review.

The performance review can be an opportunity to help your employees (and your business) be successful, not by being Pollyanna and only focusing on the positive, but by being proactive, constructive, and focused on how to achieve your goals together.

Final notes about performance reviews:

  • If you do them regularly, these meetings can be short and sweet (<30 mins);
  • Train your managers in how to effectively hold this kind of performance review meeting;
  • Teach your employees what a good performance review meeting feels like;
  • Don’t save your feedback for the review meeting. If you see something great, congratulate them immediately, and if you see problem behaviours, deal with them immediately.
  • Ensure your managers and employees have the tools, resources, support and abilities to achieve goals set out for them. Success and achievement are powerful motivators.
  • Track what you agreed to so you have something to work from next time.

If you want to read the full article click here.