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Maximizing the Mid-year Review
WHAT MAKES A GOOD MID-YEAR PERFORMANCE CONVERSATION?
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In many organizations, summer brings the opportunity for a mid-year performance review. At the least, it offers a good time to take a breather and "touch base" with employees. You can use this time to revisit and revise annual performance goals and to recognize employee contributions so far. But not all mid-year performance reviews reach their full potential.
What makes a good mid-year performance conversation?
Your focus is on the employee's performance, not on the person. The conversation should concentrate on highlighting what the employee has accomplished so far and on what they will be charged with achieving in the remainder of the year. When you direct the conversation on them personally, on their attitude or on your judgment about their work, they are likely to become defensive. When you focus on the work product and the results produced by the employee, the conversation will likely remain productive.
You encourage and expect the employee to participate. Rather than doing all the talking, ask questions that invite the employee to identify what they've accomplished so far and what they have yet to achieve. Ask for their ideas. Challenge them to identify ways to make the rest of the year a success.
Your focus is on the future, rather than on the past. Even though it may be a mid-year "review" it doesn't have to be all about the past six months. Highlight the employee's accomplishments and/or challenges, but spend the majority of the time creating a plan for the balance of the year. Make adjustments to the original plan so the employee has a clear path forward.
What should you talk about during the mid-year review? Try this question-driven agenda to guide your conversation and take notes on what you hear from the employee:
- What goals have been accomplished so far?
- What goals still need to be accomplished?
- Which goals are no longer relevant? Should they be revised or deleted?
- What new projects or issues have cropped up that should be
represented as new goals? - What do you need to be able to accomplish the goals that remain for the rest of the year?
- What challenges do you expect? How can I help you?
- What else should we be talking about to help you be successful?
After exploring these questions, you can bring up issues, ideas, and concerns that the employee has not raised. The key is to focus on the future, rather than rehashing the past.
Mid-year reviews give you the opportunity to summarize the employee's contributions and to refocus and adjust. Don't miss the opportunity.
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Make Their Day: Employee Recognition that Works
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
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Today w e must create work environments where employees feel valued. According to World at Work, eighty-nine percent of organizations have some kind of recognition program in place, yet most employees feel inadequately recognized. My colleague Cindy Ventrice has captured the solution in her book, Make Their Day: Employee Recognition that Works.
Cindy conducted extensive research on employee recognition including a study that explores what makes recognition meaningful and another study on generational preferences and recognition. She has summarized her findings in this book, while providing hundreds of examples and suggestions for enhancing employee recognition in your workplace. If you are looking for a practical and useful management tool, pick up Make Their Day.
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Final Footnotes
NEWS & EVENTS FROM MARNIE
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When you stop learning and growing professionally, you're done. I'm not ready to be finished. So, this month I'm headed to Indianapolis for the national convention of the National Speakers Association. The event will provide four days of high energy growth opportunities that will keep me charging forward for months to come. I'll be searching for new tools to bring high quality content to you and your organization, and I'll be learning to deliver my ideas in ways that are engaging and meaningful to you.
What have you done lately to learn and grow professionally? If you are looking for a boost, check out the resources available on my website to help you become a more confident and competent manager of employee performance, including:
Keep on learning!
Sincerely,
Marnie Green, IPMA-CP
Principal Consultant
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Painless Performance Evaluations: A Practical Approach to Managing Day-to-Day Employee Performance
