As a people manager, it is important to offer support and guidance to your employees, aiding in their development. Are you looking to have a meaningful and constructive dialogue in your upcoming performance reviews? Here are some essential do’s and don’ts:
The Do’s
✅1. Preparation is key. Collect specific data and examples of your employees' performance throughout the review period. This includes both positive accomplishments and areas for improvement. Be prepared to deliver actionable feedback to support their growth.
✅2. Schedule the review meeting in advance. This allows both you and employee to have sufficient time to prepare. It avoids conflicts that may arise with other important meetings, deadlines or commitments.
✅3. Listen actively and encourage dialogue. This helps to establish engagement and trust as it demonstrates that you are genuinely interested in your employee’s feedback.
✅4. Plan development opportunities. This shows you are interested in and committed to the employee’s professional growth. It is also an effective way to address any skill or knowledge gaps identified during the performance review.
✅5. Follow up. Performance conversations should not be a one-time event. Scheduling goal setting and follow up discussions based on the performance review outcomes promotes accountability, engagement and a positive employee-manager relationship.
The Don’ts
❌1. Don’t focus on recent events only as it is a limited view. Performance reviews should consider the employee’s performance over the entire review period as it provides a more accurate and constructive basis for feedback and goal setting.
❌2. Don’t give vague or ambiguous feedback. This could lead to confusion about what the employee needs to improve on, they may not feel accountable for their performance and trust can diminish in the working relationship.
❌3. Don’t focus only on improvement areas. This can create a negative experience. Employees may feel demotivated and undervalued which leads to disengagement and low job satisfaction.
❌4. Don’t do all the talking. Employees may feel frustrated or misunderstood. You miss the opportunity to build rapport & trust and you miss out on a constructive dialogue that can uncover valuable insights and feedback.
❌5. Don’t avoid having challenging conversations. Without addressing challenging topics, performance issues may persist, low accountability may continue, and employees miss valuable opportunities for growth and development.
Performance reviews should not be a dreaded process. With the right preparation, you can make your performance strategy a successful for you and your team!
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