Five
Annual-Review Mistakes You’re Probably Making
Performance reviews
shouldn't be one awkward conversation every December. Here are the common
missteps to avoid.
Companies like Accenture,
Microsoft, and General Electric are ditching annual performance reviews for
more frequent feedback sessions, but for many others the practice is a way to
end the year with a keen plan for the future.
The key to doing it
successfully is not confusing performance evaluation with performance
management, says Christine M. Riordan, president of Adelphi University and
leadership development expert.
"Typically, organizations ask that performance be formally
evaluated once a year," she says. "A performance evaluation form
commonly assesses the accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, and development
needs of an employee."
The key to doing it
successfully is not confusing performance evaluation with performance
management.
Performance management, on the other hand, is a continuous process
of assessing and developing the performance of an individual to align with the
strategic goals of an organization, Riordan continues. "It is a constant
process of discussion on progress towards goals and how the employee is
performing," she says.
A year-end review, then, should be different than periodic
check-ins. Sit down with your employees, and make the most of the meeting by
avoiding these five common mistakes:
MISTAKE #1: EVALUATING TRAITS INSTEAD OF BEHAVIORS AND RESULTS
One of the most common
mistakes is evaluating personal traits, such as leadership, motivation,
conscientiousness, and attitude, according to the American Management Association (AMA).
The problem with traits is that they are internal and subjective—
almost impossible to evaluate on a fair basis, according to the AMA.
Instead, year-end reviews should focus on behaviors and results.
Behaviors are actions that you can observe directly, such as completing tasks.
Results are also observable, such as achieving a sales quota or increasing
revenue by a certain percentage.
Performance evaluation can be uncomfortable for most people -–
both for those giving it and those receiving it, says Riordan. "Because of
the discomfort, when there is a performance problem, managers will often avoid
difficult conversations or be too vague in the evaluation," she says.
"Because managers often don’t want people to feel bad, they may rate
everyone the same or just use the more favorable ratings on the scale."
"Because managers
often don’t want people to feel bad, they may rate everyone the same or just
use the more favorable ratings on the scale."
Giving everyone the same score or only favorable scores can become
a norm and create problems for the organization in terms of differentiating
among employees for raises or dealing with performance problems particularly
when an employee has been rated average or higher, says Riordan. Avoid this
mistake by being firm on your ratings, understanding that the foundation of
your company depends on it.
The secret to effective
year-end reviews is laying the groundwork throughout the year, says Elissa
Tucker, principal human capital management research lead at American Productivity and
Quality Center (APQC), a nonprofit human resources research organization.
This includes clearly defining performance goals, measures, and
rating criteria; scheduling frequent check-in meetings to update performance
goals, discuss progress, and address challenges; collecting feedback and
performance examples on an ongoing basis; and having informal conversations
with employees daily or as often as possible to recognize small accomplishments
and open the door for low-stakes questions and coaching.
APQC’s 2016 People Challenges at Work Poll found that the top-two
challenges people have with their managers are:
1.
Does not share enough information
2.
Does not provide enough direction
"These findings show that managers would benefit from making
communication a New Year’s resolution," says Tucker. "The end-of-year
performance review is the perfect time for managers to get a jump start. Then,
they can follow through by having regular – weekly, monthly, or quarterly –
meetings with each employee."
The annual review should
not be a shock, adds Bonnie Hagemann, CEO of Executive
Development Associates, a talent management and research firm.
"It should be a documentation of an ongoing conversation that has been
happening between the manager and the employee all year. If the time ever comes
that a manager needs to fire an employee, the employee should not be surprised
because he or she had many opportunities and support to get the situation
turned around."
When providing feedback, it
is helpful for a manager to think and act like a coach, says MaryAnne Hyland,
professor of human resource management at the Robert B. Willumstad School
of Business in Long Island, N.Y.
"The ultimate goal of the performance review is to improve employee performance, and managers are more likely to get the results they are hoping for by focusing on how to improve, rather than being punitive," she says. "While many employees do not like constructive feedback, giving specific recommendations on how they could improve their performance is likely to be better received than more general comments about needing to improve."
"The ultimate goal of the performance review is to improve employee performance, and managers are more likely to get the results they are hoping for by focusing on how to improve, rather than being punitive," she says. "While many employees do not like constructive feedback, giving specific recommendations on how they could improve their performance is likely to be better received than more general comments about needing to improve."
"Managers are more
likely to get the results they are hoping for by focusing on how to improve,
rather than being punitive."
Focus on the behavior, not the person, adds Hyland adds. "For
example, it is better to say, ‘The accuracy of the line items on your budget
proposals needs improvement,’ rather than, ‘You are bad at budget
proposals,’" she says.
If employee have performed poorly, good managers investigate.
People don’t perform poorly without a reason, according to the AMA. There are
always causes, and it’s a manager’s job to make finding those reasons part of
the review process.
The performance review
process should be transparent and well documented. A study done at the London
School of Economics and Political Science published in the Spring 2016 issue
of Academy of
Management Discoveries found a good degree of consistency in the weight
individual judges assigned to different factors from one appraisal to another.
When asked to rank factors by importance, however, answers often varied, with
most mangers having difficulty explaining their approach to others.
"Although participants adopted a consistent judgment policy
across different performance-appraisal situations, they showed little insight
into their own judgment policy," write study coauthors Hayley German of
the London School of Economics and Political Science, Marion Fortin of the
University of Toulouse and Daniel Read of Warwick Business School. "The
fact that experienced administrators differ sharply in how they evaluate the
fairness of the same appraisal suggests why this can be a potential minefield
for employers. On the basis of our findings, it comes as no great surprise that
annual performance appraisals have been losing favor."
STEPHANIE VOZZA
https://www.fastcompany.com/3066585/hit-the-ground-running/five-annual-review-mistakes-youre-probably-making
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