Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Fun with performance evaluations (no, really!)

We’re in the midst of annual performance evaluations at our company. I’m in my twelfth year at the company, and my second year of being a manager, so I’ve been on both sides. I’ve been through easy and less-easy discussions in that length of time, and it’s true what they say: 1. It’s about the conversation, not the document and 2. Nothing in the review should be a complete surprise.

The best performance conversations (and I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to experience this) involve a run-through of the areas in which the individual is great and appreciated by both the manager and the individual’s peers. Hopefully it’s all stuff the manager has said before! Then there’s the discussion of development areas. Again, there shouldn’t be a development area that’s a complete surprise. I find it most helpful to talk about skills where the employee can build on existing strengths and become even better, even as it’s important to discuss anything that might be holding them back.

But what comes out of the development area discussion is probably the best part for me, because that’s when you get into the guts of what the individual wants to see happen. It’s starting the goal-planning, but not in a dry, SMART-goal way. It’s talking about the change the individual wants to make happen. Or the influence the individual wants to grow. Or the relationships the individual wants to build. Or the skills the individual wants to expand upon. Or the challenges the individual wants to take on.

It’s that part of the conversation that excites me as a manager, because I can’t wait to help them do those things. And it’s that part of the conversation that I enjoy as an employee, because it helps me dream big and gets me excited about what’s going to happen next. Yes, we’ll turn it all into actionable and measurable statements and that’s important to do. And we’ll check in throughout the year and add, remove, or adjust the actions and measures. That's an important part, too.

But imagining the changes one can make and influence is probably the most fun I have with of performance evaluations.

2 comments:

  1. "And we’ll check in throughout the year and add, remove, or adjust the actions and measures. That's an important part, too."

    For my money, that's THE important part. If we don't connect the strategic planning with the daily work, we've failed.

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  2. Paul, yes, that's also the key for making things applicable throughout the changes in our ever-changing landscape.

    Still, in the moment of the reviews, that's not what I'm thinking about! :)

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