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Your #Career : #CareerAdvice – How Do I Go from Outstanding to #Terminated ? …One of the Most Consistent Findings from my Research concerns #PerformanceReviews . Prior to Being Let Go, nearly All of the People I Interviewed had Received Glowing #PerformanceEvaluations .

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The vast majority of managers provide an annual performance review for their direct reports. We’re all familiar with the drill. Has the employee met their goals? Do they have strong productivity and attendance? Do they demonstrate customer service? Are they a team player? And generally there is a rating system that accompanies these questions. Managers fill them out, discuss the results with their employee, and send the form to Human Resources.

Performance Reviews Should… 

This “event” provides an opportunity for us to appreciate our team member, thank them for their contributions, get to know more about their own goals, and provide them feedback for professional development. Sound familiar?

It stands to reason that if an employee had something they needed to work on, a manager would address it with them — if not before the performance review, at least during the review. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

I interviewed 65 people for my book, “Fired: How to Manage Your Career in the Age of Job Uncertainty.” They were from all regions of the United States and worked at all levels of the organization. I was intentional about getting a diverse representation of demographics, professional levels and types of employers. Every one of the people interviewed was let go from his or her job.

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Glowing Performance Reviews

One of the most consistent findings from my research concerns performance reviews. Prior to being let go, nearly all of the people I interviewed had received glowing performance evaluations. They thought they were doing a great job and their performance reviews confirmed it.

And yet they were let go.

There were a few exceptions to this; those were mostly people who had a new supervisor. In these cases, the interviewees reported having strong performance reviews until they got a new boss, and then they received a less than positive performance review.

Job Security and Performance Reviews

Although it isn’t what we managers espouse, the rule of thumb is that great performance evaluations do not necessarily mean job security. We say we will have honest dialogue. We promote coaching and training. We talk about transparency and integrity. But, as one of my interviewees commented, “I see it all the time where I work now. People get good reviews and two months later they get terminated. If someone can make a better way (to do performance reviews), they should.” I can see all the Human Resources professionals out there nodding.

Another of my interviewees asked, “How does this happen? How do I go from outstanding to terminated?” I think we can all agree that unless there are extenuating circumstances like the employee commits an egregious offense, this shouldn’t happen.

The Big Why

So why does it? A few things are at work here. First, giving an employee honest feedback is difficult. Many managers would prefer not to engage in a difficult conversation. They fear their employee’s reaction or they don’t want to address a conflict. They may not have the interpersonal skills necessary to address the issue. So people get satisfactory reviews even when they don’t deserve them. And sometimes they lose their jobs because no one intervened.

Second, sometimes the manager him or herself may not have given adequate orientation or direction about the job requirements and the organization’s culture, emphasis on the culture. Studies show that being a “fit” is more important to job security than job competence. So the employee loses his or her job because they weren’t adequately prepared.

Third, and most importantly, there are a lot of factors at play besides job performance which impacts a person’s job security, such as leadership transitions, economic considerations, and office politics and relationships. These have nothing to do with job performance.

We Can Do Better

While we can’t control every variable, as leaders we can help other managers understand the importance of clearly and explicitly stating expectations and providing the training employees need to do their jobs. It’s also incumbent on all leaders to help employees understand the culture, including the unwritten rules of the organization. And while hardly anyone looks forward to a difficult conversation, we can foster an environment where managers are encouraged, expected and taught how to provide clear instruction and feedback to employees about how they are doing their jobs. We owe it to our employees and the people they serve.

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Nancy is contributing author to the FSC Career Blog (www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog) & is particating member of the FSC LinkedIn Network (over 17K+ members).

 

FSC Career Blog | June 5, 2018

#Leadership : How To Lead A Productive #PerformanceReview …How Can you Make the Performance Review something of Value for You & your Employee?

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Employees dread the performance review. They look to this yearly evaluation with angst, annoyance and anger. It’s a measure of their whole year bottled into a one- to two-hour meeting that will determine their promotion, raise, etc. They often don’t even leave with feedback on how to grow; it’s mostly a waste of time.

Leaders don’t like the performance review much, either. The process typically takes them at least five times longer than it takes their employees — and they often see a less engaged employee on the other end.

It’s a hard process. It’s time-consuming, vague and not focused. Still, the performance review process shouldn’t be scrapped. It can be done better — it can serve as a tool to align leader and employee, connect your team and organizational goals and be a catalyst for employee growth.

How can you make the performance review something of value for you and your employee?

Let’s start with the intention of the performance review process. The purpose of the performance review is to assess your employee’s work over the past year (or quarter, etc.), agree on actions for improvement, and align on next year’s (or quarter’s) goals as they relate to the company’s core objectives.

I’ve broken the process down into a few simple steps to remove the vagueness, provide concrete actions to take and set you up with a framework to hold more productive performance reviews for your team.

Step 1. Assess successes and opportunities. You can’t just walk into a performance review meeting and wing it. It does take preparation. It should not, however, take more than 60-90 minutes to prepare for each employee.

In reviewing their performance, look at each of your employee’s goals in the following ways.

• Analyze the outcome. Did she reach her goal, yes or no? What are her tangible metrics? 

• Identify actions you want her to repeat. What did she do well that helped her towards this goal? What was the impact of her actions? Make sure to provide specific examples.

• Identify actions you see as opportunities. What could she have done better? What was the impact? What is the potential impact of adapting? Share specific examples.

Write down notes and examples. It’s okay to use them during the conversation, it shows your employee you care about their growth and have dedicated time to giving thoughtful feedback. Ask your employee to do the same. Have her come to the meeting prepared to share her results. Following this structure will set each meeting up for success.

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Step 2. Hold the conversation. This is your employee’s meeting. Sit back, listen and ask questions for clarity. Then give your feedback.

For an ideal review, follow the four As: ask, add, agree, align.

• Ask and listen. How did you see your performance over the last year? What were some of your significant accomplishments? What didn’t quite go as planned? What happened, and what did you learn?

• Add your feedback. This is the time to share your feedback. What actions did she do well? What are some opportunities for growth? Share specific examples for each.

• Agree with the assessment. Do you agree with her assessment? What do you have to add to it? Does she agree with your assessment? What does she have to add?

• Align with new goals. Now that you’ve agreed on the assessment of her performance, it’s time to look forward. It’s a chance to set new goals based on company objectives and her desired areas of growth. 

Where should she focus her energies to achieve business objectives for the next year (or quarter)? Where does she want to grow and develop herself? You should leave with three to five S.M.A.R.T goals for the upcoming year (or quarter).

You’ll know if you’ve been successful if your employee does most of the talking. It’s her meeting, about her work, and her success is your success.

Step 3. Follow up and follow through. This is where most bosses miss the mark. We spend all of this time preparing for the meeting, the meeting happens, and we never bring it up again. In turn, nothing changes.

There are a few simple elements that will help make it easy for you to follow up with your employee and follow through on the actions you agreed to in the meeting.

• Follow up on review outcomes. Send a recap email summarizing the results of the conversation and the three to five goals set. Ask your employee to review and confirm. This is a great way to make sure what you heard in the meeting is the same as what she heard.

• Track follow-through on action towards goals. Once a month, review progress on these goals with your employee. What’s working? What’s holding her back? How can you support her? Asking her about these goals highlights their importance and your dedication to her growth and allows room for adaptation and adjustments in real time.

Stop looking at reviews as a burden and time suck. They’re an opportunity to align and lead your team more powerfully.

When done well, the performance review process will engage your employee, create more clarity and make your role as a leader easier in the long run.

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Forbes.com | January 12, 2018

Your #Career : 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.

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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.

free- women at meeting

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.”

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.

MISTAKE #2: BEING TOO LENIENT WITH YOUR FEEDBACK

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.”

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.

 

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MISTAKE #3: WAITING UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR TO GIVE ANY FEEDBACK

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.”

MISTAKE #4: ACTING LIKE A JUDGE INSTEAD OF A COACH

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.”

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.

MISTAKE #5: NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPLAIN YOUR RATING 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 Discoveriesfound 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.”

 

FastCompany.com | STEPHANIE VOZZA | 12.16.16 5:54 AM