Ten Tips for Leaders: Making Performance Reviews Meaningful
I’m being asked with increasing frequency to conduct workshops and advise firms on one aspect of leadership that is particularly fraught with dread and anxiety: performance reviews! Whether you refer to them as performance reviews, evaluations, or appraisals, these yearly processes and the drawing up of documents seem to carry a negative connotation. “If there is anyone who can make this topic inspiring, it’s you, Jesse!” said the VP of one organization.
The truth is, I DO believe that the appraisal process can be meaningful and rewarding for everyone involved. Let me share some of the most powerful practices I’ve devised for the leaders that I work with.
Here are ten key concepts and considerations to bear in mind as you approach the performance appraisal process of your people:
Actionability and Accountability
These two key words remind us of the effects we want our performance appraisals to enact. We want to hold our people accountable not just to an abstract standard, but to their own goals. As a reminder of someone’s progress and a map of their career trajectory, the annual appraisal can serve to inform and inspire an employee’s development. To further that end, leaving the appraisal process, including what I call the consultation (the meeting where the document is reviewed) with a sense of what actions an employee can take next leads to feelings of empowerment and a sense of having agency and autonomy over one’s work. You want the appraisal process to leave your people with a clear understanding of the actions they can take to propel themselves—and the organization—forward.
2. Appraisal is a Year-Round Process
The biggest mistake that leaders make as they go about evaluating their people is to focus on the current moment in which the appraisal is written, neglecting the entire rest of the year! Human beings have short, fallible memories and we often lose track of events in other people’s lives (“Was it this year or last year that you did that thing?”). The appraisal process needs to consider everything that has happened since the last appraisal. It’s easy to be biased toward the most recent, so I suggest that leaders keep a personal notebook throughout the entire year to jot down DING DING DINGS (positive accomplishments—picture the sound of a win on the slot machine) as well as DINGS (examples of points that could be improved). Keeping casual notes can help inform the process when it’s time to conduct a formal evaluation and provide necessary evidence. For example, should an employee take issue with a subjective criticism (“I don’t have a bad attitude!”) you can counter with specific instances (“On January 14, I saw you slam a door leaving a meeting, etc.”).
3. Focus on Trends
Everyone can have a bad day, and everyone can get lucky at times, so, while we want the appraisal to reflect events that occurred over the course of the year, it’s more critical to notice trends. Flaws early in the year can be forgiven if a trend toward improvement has emerged since. Similarly, if someone begins the year strong, freshly inspired by the previous appraisal, but begins to slack and fall back into undesirable old habits, that trend should be reflected on the current appraisal. I always say “Performance is dynamic; you’re always becoming more something and less something else.” Your appraisal should characterize what you see your people becoming.
4. The Appraisal Process is a Powerful Teaching Tool (Don’t discount or dismiss it!)
Another common mistake I see with leaders, especially if they know and like their direct reports well, is to address the awkwardness of assessing someone by giving the impression they are merely checking off a box. If you say, “I’m sorry but I HAVE to fill this out,” or “I can’t believe they make us do this” or you otherwise show a lack of faith in the process, you are undermining and undercutting the potentially positive power of this process. Appraisals are a teaching tool: a document that you can use to establish expectations and scaffold behavioral changes, as well as to hold someone accountable. It is one of few motivating tools that leaders have at their disposal, so I recommend making the most of it by not diminishing its potential impact for the sake of overcoming awkwardness! Take the process seriously so your people will as well.
5. No Surprises!
Just as I mentioned that appraisal is a year-long process, so is addressing performance and conduct issues as they arise. Ideally, no new issues should be raised during the appraisal process that haven’t been discussed prior. Appraisal is an opportunity to hold someone accountable for misalignments with corrective plans already in place, but not to bring someone’s attention to an emerging issue for the first time. You don’t want a disgruntled employee to ever be able to say “I had no idea you expected this from me!” Furthermore, I always advise leadership that the appraisal instrument (document) should be provided to employees when they are first hired as part of the on-boarding process so they know exactly how they’ll be evaluated. Even if they’re uninterested at the time, they can’t turn around and say “I had no idea I was going to be evaluated on . . .”
6. Ask “Is This a ME Thing?”
Consistent with the “no surprises” rule, ask yourself regularly during the appraisal process if a performance issue is actually a leadership issue. Is there a behavior that YOU have let continue for far too long? Have YOU been ignoring red flags that you are tempted to bring up now, during appraisal time? If so, that is a performance issue for YOU rather than this particular employee. While you should still address such issues in other ways, remind yourself that it is unfair to hold performance against an employee if you haven’t given them an opportunity to address and correct the behavior prior to a formal evaluative process.
7. Justify and Clarify: Qualitative Comments Should Justify and Clarify Quantitative Scores
In order for your written evaluations to carry weight with the employee as well as with leadership within your organization, it is ESSENTIAL that the qualitative feedback (written comments) justify and clarify the quantitative (numbered or similarly structured) assessment of someone’s performance. Comments are an opportunity to present evidence that substantiates the “scores.” It is helpful as well to use the exact language on the instrument (the appraisal document/form) to substantiate your appraisal. For example, if in order to achieve an “Exceeds Expectations” rating on a certain criterion, the descriptor says the employee must “significantly and consistently demonstrate superb performance,” use that language to clarify why that employee hasn’t quite reached that extraordinarily high standard . . . yet (but will in the future!).
8. Appraisals Should Speak to Each Other
Comments should make references to the previous appraisal, reflecting on how desired trends have continued and undesired trends have been corrected. Has the employee demonstrated growth in the areas indicated on last year’s review? The appraisal should also establish what the desired growth will look like on next year’s review! For example, it may be helpful and inspiring to indicate “if current positive growth remains steady over the course of the coming year, the individual shows the promise of exceeding expectations in the next review.” Not only does that comment establish actionability for the employee, but it holds YOU accountable on the next review to reflect on that particular desired trend.
9. Self-Appraisal is Essential
Some workplaces I visit require a self-appraisal and some leave it optional. Even if your workplace leaves it optional, encourage your people to complete a self-appraisal with a form designed specifically for that purpose. Not only does it remind you of the employee’s accomplishments over the course of the past year, but regular self-appraisal can develop a habit of personal reflection with regard to one’s work. If the employee feels invested in their evaluation and improvement, they are likely to develop a more positive attitude toward the evaluative feedback that they will receive from you.
10. Consider Your Audience
While the most immediate audience of the appraisal is going to be the employee themselves, keep in mind that your boss or HR personnel or even high-level leadership may have reason to view this document in the future. Does it reflect your positive contributions to this employee’s development as a leader? Are you holding this employee accountable to the organization’s values and priorities? And, yet another possible audience is this person’s future boss. What if you get offered a fabulous job elsewhere during the next year and your employee’s next appraisal is carried out by their new boss? Will they be able to understand and continue the trajectories you were hoping to establish with your feedback? In essence, it’s helpful to remember what this document says about your leadership style and ability.
It goes without saying that you need to follow the law and organization policies in your appraisal process, but keep in mind that it needs to be rendered in a style that maximizes the positive impact on that particular employee. The appraisal process is a vital tool in aligning everyone’s (the employee’s, yours, the organization’s, and even those of the clients you’re serving) interests and goals.
Please reach out if you have any questions or would be interested in hosting a workshop on Meaningful Performance Reviews for leaders at your organization!
-Jesse
www.jessekaten.com