Mari Carmen is the founder of Whole Leadership Systems, a coach, speaker and Chief Human Resources Officer at Avet Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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There's a lot of new data about performance reviews and whether or not they are effective. While the world works on coming up with a better solution, I firmly believe that performance reviews, when done well, do serve to help employees improve, as well as motivate them to strive for continued improvement year after year. What’s more, employees are not the only ones who benefit! Performance conversations also help you as a leader to identify promotion readiness, as well as training or developmental needs.
That being said, truly effective performance reviews come with practice, and leaders would do well to prepare. Below are three common mistakes I see even experienced leaders make during the review process and how to avoid them.
Mistake No. 1: Your employee is surprised by the feedback.
Unless the feedback you provide is recent (from the week before), your employee should not be learning about a performance deficiency for the first time during the review. Any performance deficiency must be addressed at the time it occurs, no exceptions. If anything, the review is the place to discuss the improvements made since the deficiency was identified.
The solution: Make a commitment to offer timely feedback to your employees and document the steps you are taking as a team to solve the issue.
Mistake No. 2: Your employee is the only one listening.
The performance review is meant to be interactive, not a one-way presentation. It’s an opportunity to get out of the boss’s seat and share your views, not just present them. The review is an excellent opportunity to have a two-way discussion.
The solution: Start by asking the employee to do a self-evaluation before the meeting. Ask them to come prepared to have a performance discussion and compare notes. This is an opportunity for the leader to practice deep listening skills and open up to collaborate with their employee about next steps to ensure future growth.
Mistake No. 3: You dance around the negative.
Providing sincere corrective feedback is a leader's responsibility. Receiving it is a gift. Even if your employee meets your expectations, there is always an opportunity to improve. Still, most leaders either avoid that part of the review or dance around it so much that the employee can't hear it.
The solution: Be direct, clear and straightforward about the areas of improvement. Start by describing what needs to improve and provide specific, recent examples of any performance issues. Then, offer improvement strategies. End the review with an agreement and an action plan to tackle future development and growth.
As a leader, it is part of your job description to have periodic one-on-one meetings with your employees that include an agenda item for providing feedback when needed. Once you provide feedback, make it a point to check in with the employee often and offer assistance as needed. And don't forget: When providing feedback, ensure it is job-related, applied consistently with other employees and that you, as the leader, walk the talk. Make managing performance and creating the conditions for your employees’ success a priority.
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