Founder & CEO of Reverb. Empowering people, building culture. Author, Female Firebrands.
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This time of the year, HR and people leaders are shepherding teams through goal setting and commitments. As part of an annual or quarterly performance check-in, the end of 2022 is also a good time to reflect.
Reflection allows us to take stock of what we did and how we did it. While organizations used to turn their focus to what went wrong so they could "do better" in the future, we now know that it's even more important to think about what went well. This helps teams and individuals build on their strengths and reinforce good habits.
Every year undoubtedly holds a mix of highs and lows, and since the start of the pandemic, we feel these more acutely. Given recent changes to the job market and economy, it’s even more important that leadership helps people focus on what's within their control as they close out the year.
Taking Stock
Use performance check-ins or other year-end reviews to ask employees to reflect on the following:
• What am I most proud of?
• What goals and commitments did I keep?
• What's something I wanted to do but didn't make time for?
• Did I overcommit?
These are good questions to ask ourselves periodically; in these dynamic times, too many changes happen over the course of a year. In my company, we use quarterly business reviews to take stock of department and team-wide progress, highlights and lowlights. It helps us reflect and regroup and allows us to determine if we're on track and focused on the right priorities. We also gauge whether we're trying to do too much or have room to stretch ourselves by taking on a bit more.
HR can help people go through a similar exercise using their goals to assess how well they've performed and what they’ve contributed. But reviews need to go beyond ratings, raises and promotions. As we focus more on the whole person and well-being at work, encourage employees to take a more holistic view of not only what they’ve accomplished but what behaviors made them successful and what they’ve learned.
Focus On Behaviors With Positive Outcomes
No matter what kind of year someone had, surely there were some positives coming out of it. Maybe they enjoyed the flexibility of hybrid work, had a chance to "work from anywhere" or learned a valuable new skill.
Ask your people to take note of whatever they found most rewarding and fulfilling. Lead them in a gratitude practice to help them appreciate the good stuff, and celebrate their wins. Next, have them consider what led to their success and capture each idea on a Post-it. Remind them to look for repeatable behaviors.
For instance, was that new skill the result of setting aside time to study, experiment or attend a conference? Did they benefit from hybrid work because they learned to set better boundaries? The behaviors and mindset that led to their achievements and fulfillment are things they should bring with them into the new year. Encourage them to keep that list handy.
Leave Unwanted Behaviors Behind
Every year also has its hardships, and last year was no exception. No doubt some people struggled at work, lost their temper or didn't show up with the composure they had hoped for. Remind the team that that's OK, it happens to all of us. Now ask them to take a moment to think about what they learned from these situations.
• Is it something they could have foreseen?
• Would better preparation have helped?
• What would make this go better next time?
The goal here is not to make people feel guilty or sit in self-criticism. It's about learning from the past so that they can experiment with a different approach the next time around. Maybe they would benefit from working with a coach or mentor. Remind people what resources are available.
Once again, pull out the Post-its. This time, have them list behaviors, habits or tendencies they would rather not repeat in 2023. This is their chance to leave those behaviors behind. Ask them to put that list in a box, throw it in the recycle bin or take it home and burn it. Whatever helps them symbolically leave those behaviors in the past.
A once-a-year focused reflection may not result in all the change people are looking for but it’s not an insignificant step in the right direction. Just helping your team assess their behaviors over the past year can help to increase their self-awareness, which is the first step in behavioral change. If they’re committed to progress, ask them to schedule quarterly goals reviews. For more accountability, people can pair up or check in as a group.
A final pro tip—sharing goals out loud with at least one other person can increase feelings of accountability and improve people’s chances of success.
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