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Painless Performance Evaluations
THREE CRITICAL CONCEPTS
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Universally, managers and employees dread the annual ritual of performance evaluations.
The opportunity for enhanced communication and feedback is often wasted, misused, or squandered, resulting in a painful experience for everyone. Enlightened organizations are realizing that performance evaluations don't have to be dreadful. Cutting edge workplaces are adopting three primary perspectives to transform the culture into one where employees look forward to annual performance reviews, leading to enhanced individual and organizational performance.
A painless performance evaluation is defined by these three simple concepts:
1. No surprises!
2. Employee-driven.
3. Future-focused.
No Surprises
The "no surprises" rule means that only previous issues/concerns should be raised in the performance evaluation meeting. It is an opportunity to summarize the previous rating period's discussions and should be nothing more than a review. Performance evaluations are not the time to solve all of the employee's performance challenges.
Surprises can't be avoided unless you and the employee talk regularly about the employee's performance. Problems and concerns should be discussed when the situation takes place. If the employee has demonstrated success, it should be recognized on the spot. Trust is enhanced when specific feedback is a regular part of the work environment.
When performance conversations are saved up for the year-end meeting, uncomfortable surprises will inevitably arise. The conversation will take on a more productive and positive tone when it is a summary of your previous discussions. This lends itself to the second element of a painless performance evaluation: employee-driven.
Employee-driven
A performance evaluation is painless when it is a two-way dialogue. Typical evaluation conversations, where you do all the talking, don't allow for the employee to have a point of view. In painless performance evaluations, you direct the conversation in a way that is valuable to the employee.
One strategy for engaging employees is to seek their input before the evaluation is prepared. Ask the employee to assess their own performance by posing the following simple questions:
1. What have been your greatest accomplishments this year?
2. What were your biggest challenges this year?
3. What new challenges/goals would you like to pursue in the upcoming year?
4. What can the organization or I do to support you in the future?
These answers allow the employee to remind you of their triumphs, giving you a sense of how they perceive themselves.
Before the performance evaluation meeting, give a copy of the evaluation document to the employee so that he/she can come prepared to discuss its contents. To begin the meeting, ask the employee for their feedback on the document. The employee should be encouraged to talk for at least three to five minutes. After the employee has shared his/her perspective, then you can begin to share your opinions about the employee's performance.
With this approach the employee will often highlight all of the issues you were planning to discuss anyway. Since the feedback came from the employee, he/she feels an increased sense of ownership for the issues. It opens the discussion to future possibilities, which is the third element of a painless performance evaluation.
Future-focused
A performance evaluation is painless when the conversation is future-oriented and hopeful. Recapping the highlights of an employee's performance is fine, but the most valuable time is spent talking about the future. Use the evaluation meeting to plan future performance goals, to clarify expectations, and to create a sense of excitement about what lies ahead.
Isn't it about time we found a more productive and less painful way to tackle the annual performance evaluation? The quality of your customer's experience is defined by the performance of your individual employees. How you manage performance determines the success of your organization--make it painless!
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Readers Respond
GAINING EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT
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Recently I received the following question submitted by one of our E-Tips readers:
How do you command the attention and gain commitment of apathetic public employees who are negatively influenced by political infighting in numerous ways--e.g. lack of clear strategic direction?
Here's my answer:
This question encompasses one of the most challenging realities of working in the public sector today. When the organization lacks strategic direction and struggles with political divisiveness, it's harder to get employees excited about the service they are providing. I believe our best hope is to create "pockets of greatness" within the organization. This can be achieved when work groups are led by positive, enthusiastic managers who believe that, despite the political turmoil, the group provides valuable and meaningful services to the citizenry.
In my experience, it's hard to turn the entire organization around when there is political infighting and a lack of focus. However, it is possible to create "tribes" of employees who are focused on something besides the infighting. Bringing focus back to the employee's day-to-day performance, and how it impacts the community, can be very powerful.
It's best to manage performance with a broad perspective that links to a strategic plan. Still, individual managers can create visions and plans to move their function forward, while enlisting employees in the creation of the vision. Employees should be involved in conversations about the future, recognizing that they are likely to be with the organization longer than the political leaders. With that frame, it's easier to focus employees on the long-term and on what they can impact themselves.
Public service as a career will always have political ebbs and flows. Part of the leader's job is to help employees understand that politics is a fact of life and that the employee's contribution can be great regardless of the political winds.
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Final Footnotes
NEWS & EVENTS FROM MARNIE
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The excitement is starting to build here at the Management Education Group, Inc. Even though my new book, Painless Performance Conversations: A Practical Approach to Critical Day-to-Day Workplace Discussions will not be released until April, you can buy a pre-sale copy today. Order your copy at a pre-release discounted price at any of the following booksellers:
In the meantime, if I can support your efforts to update and  improve your organization's performance evaluations and/or performance conversations, please give me a call at 480-705-9394 or shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you.
Warmly,
Marnie Green, IPMA-CP
Principal Consultant
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