Source | strategiesforinfluence.com | STRATEGIES FOR INFLUENCE
The dreaded performance review! Do you know anybody (leader or team member) that looks forward to doing them?
Well, if some of the research is to be believed, up to 90% of people HATE performance reviews.
I definitely fall into the 90% category – because traditional performance reviews are broken!
Why? Because it involves some or all of the following:
- A mad dash by the Leaders (sorry, I meant Managers) to get it done before the deadline imposed by HR
- 10+ pages to complete with almost none of it being relevant (and HR has spent months devising the new and improved forms)
- HR chasing you down because you either haven’t filled in the 10+ pages correctly or, you are close to the deadline. You have a team of 10 people. You haven’t submitted anything and HR doesn’t see how you can do the 10 reviews AND complete the paperwork before the deadline (because completing the form is the most important part, Right!?)
- The Leader (sorry, another slip of the tongue, I meant Manager) giving feedback to the team member related to behavior they witnessed 11 months ago that they would like changed
- The inconsistency between Leaders (crap, I did it again, Managers) and how they rate each team member – and they then link salary increases to the inconsistent rating system! Are you serious!
- And the list goes on…
Given these scenarios, why wouldn’t you HATE performance reviews?
Well, it’s time to get rid of tradition (because it is broken!) and try something new.
The new and improved performance review involves only 4 questions (Wow! That should be a winner in itself compared to the 10+ pages previously!).
The focus isn’t on completing the form. The focus is on having an open and honest two-way conversation. The Leader (yes, we can call them a Leader if they follow this), is focused on performance (past and future), mutual accountability, and developing vulnerability-based trust – the secret ingredient to high performing teams!
