This morning I went to a networking meeting and a woman who was there promoting her business said she gave seminars on how to provide performance reviews, especially to generation X and Y. I'm always intrigued by those who say they "get" the new generation and "really know the secrets" of delivering/doing something because generation X and Y is so different than the rest of the generations. I guess when I say intrigued, I mean the little hairs stick up on the back of my neck and I immediately go into testing mode, to see if I'm in alignment with their thinking in general. Alright - I am slowly getting off topic here (Generation X and Y issues are probably an entire blog in itself never mind a post!) At any rate, the discussion that she lead this morning also got me thinking again about Performance Reviews in general.
I have worked with some pretty sophisticated software when it comes to Performance Management. At the end of the day (and I believe I've said this before), software is only ever as good as the user. My goal now, and while I was leading HR for a ton of different organizations, was to make the whole process simple and easy to use (otherwise managers wouldn't use it). For some reason, all organizations feel they need to have a section to rate behaviors or competencies like "team work" and then give it a score (usually based on a 1-5 scale). Our goal as HR was to get managers in alignment when it came to the scoring. But guess what? It was the proverbial sh*t show. And while I tried to pretend I couldn't understand why adults couldn't give feedback - I knew deep down, it had nothing to do with the feedback, but everything to do with the fact that you can't quantify competencies. People aren't made from the same cookie cutter - so to have the same rating scale is impossible.
I'll give you an example. Let's say one of the competencies you have to rate is "Integrity". You give your staff member a 3 because he/she meets your expectations when it comes to integrity. But on a scale of 1-5, how many of your staff members are actually going to be happy with a 3? Probably none. Then when they see their score, they are most likely going to ask you why you scored them a 3. Do you have an answer for them? What if they responded back to you and said, "Look, I have a ton of integrity. Everyone in the office steals office supplies and I choose not to." Sure - that could be considered integrity...but it's also what you expect of them. But when you ask them, "Do you report those who are stealing the supplies to management?" their answer most likely will be, "Of course not. It's not my place to rat out my colleagues." So really, do you now mark them a 2?? And you can see how this cycle could get out of control very quickly -- even when, as the experts say, you are "armed" with examples to "support your score".
So here's the question - should we even be rating employees on competencies that are clearly so open-ended? As said above, realistically no clear scoring system can ever be put in place because each person has their own thoughts and feelings when it comes to rating a particular behavior or competency. So in my opinion, it's an emphatic "NO!"
So then what should a performance review include? In my view (and I like simplicity) it's three basic sections - Strengths with commentary to provide praise and reinforcement for good behaviour and Areas for Improvement with an action plan on how they will improve. Finally, a note or two about what they need more of from you, their manager. Performance reviews don't need to be fancy or elaborate or cost you a ton of money by way of fancy software. All I recommend is to sit down formally, write down what you talked about and get a consensus on the items that need to be addressed. Finally, LISTEN when they ask you for help. If it's that simple - you'll find managers (or yourself) will want to do the process that much more often if you allow for it to be that simple!
I know I know...now many of you are going to start asking, "Well if I don't score their behaviors, how do I implement a bonus program? Or determine what their annual increase should be? I need something concrete." Really? You were going to give them a bonus based on being a good person (in other words, scoring a 5 on integrity)? If so, email me at michelleb@elevatedhr.com (we've got lots to talk about!) ;)
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