By Sondra Calhoun
Many organizations’ cultures are taking a hit right now from the stress of high inflation, WFH policies, global uncertainty, “quiet quitting”, and layoffs. These are causing huge distractions which result in drops in performance, both corporately and individually. With layoffs and tightening budgets, everyone is having to do more with less. If your company is going to come out the other side stronger and ahead of your competitors, now is the time to invest in your people and their success.
Performance management is more critical today than it has ever been. An effective performance management system has three key parts:
· Performance planning
· Performance coaching
· Performance review
Performance Planning
This is where you, as a leader, have a conversation with each of your people setting clear expectations. You discuss the organization’s mission, goals, and values, and how the employee and you are expected to support them. What are the responsibilities that the employee must achieve independently? How is the employee to effectively work with their teammates to achieve success? What is the impact the employee’s work has on customers, both internal and external? What does success look like for the employee? Through a two-way conversation you should both be able to leave the meeting with clarity of ownership, authority, and support for achieving the critical goals. This is not just done during onboarding of new team members, but each year after the executive team emerges from the annual strategic planning process.
Performance Coaching
In these weekly or bi-weekly meetings, you and the employee provide updates on performance metrics, successes, and roadblocks. This frequent feedback allows for small course corrections or affirmations that the employee is on the right track. On at least a quarterly basis, you should be having conversations about the employee’s aspirations and development. They should be providing you with feedback on your leadership as well. The distractions mentioned above are probably not going away, but these regular conversations help everyone to keep their eye on the true north.
Performance Review
There are many differing opinions on whether annual performance reviews are effective or just a ‘pain’. We are not going to debate them right now. There is something to be said about setting aside a point in time where leaders and their employees can stop and review trends over time. Due to a variety of human biases, a realistic view of someone’s performance can be skewed by how we are seeing them TODAY. It’s only through data and observations over time that we can more accurately evaluate how someone is contributing to the organizational goals. Most of us won’t schedule time every 6 months to have this review and conversation unless the organization has a process that we are required to follow. The daily fires always get our most attention. What’s critical in performance reviews is that we not only discuss the past trends, but that we also talk about the future needs and opportunities for the individual and the organization.
Performance management is one of the most critical deliverables for all leaders. Having a clearly defined process with accountability is what will set apart the organizations that flourish in this chaotic environment and those who just survive, or don’t.