We have now reached the point where we have set, communicated and monitored the standard of customer service that we want our people to provide. We have tended our people with recognition and reward where they have achieved or exceeded the standard, and we have coached and provided constructive feedback for our people who are not yet reaching the standard. If that all sounds like utopia to you, then you are not doing your job as a manager. If you are managing a team of people, all of the above is your job. Along with the next stage, which is the performnce review, or appraisal. There are those who say that performance reviews are a waste of time and should be done away with. To those I say: well, let’s do away with managers too, then, and just have self-managing teams!
Why do I say that? Well, because I have experienced several great performance reviews myself, as an employee. I can remember two occasions when I left my manager’s office feeling as if I was walking on air! That was because I had been given a thoroughly good listening to by my manager, had been praised and recognised for my achievements and given thorough constructive feedback on my areas for improvement, finished off with a sincere ‘well done!’
Every manager that I have ever trained on performance management, I have told that their people need to look forward to their reviews, not dread them. I once worked for an organisation that constantly moved people’s review dates and tried to complete them in ten minutes. Some people didn’t ever get a review because ‘there wasn’t time’. In companies like that, everyone is focussing on keeping their boss happy, with the result that the front line people, whose performance really matters to the customer. are an afterthought. Ring any bells?
So, for me, the ingredients for a successful performance review process (oh, how I hate that word, ‘process’ , but sometimes there is no alternative!) is to have regular monthly or quarterly one-to-one review meetings with each of your people, schedule them, keep to the dates, allow your employee to do at least 80% of the talking, encourage them to ‘big themselves up’, but require evidence, encourage them to talk about what they would like to be able to do better, and how you can help them with that, and challenge them to set their own goals for the next review period. If that sounds suspiciously like a coaching session, then you’re not far off the mark! All the managers that I have ever known that have had high-performing teams have had a process like this in place – it works.
Remember, as a manager, your first responsibility is to the people you are leading, is to provide them with the resources and to be a role model for the behaviours that you expect of them. In my opinion, an effective and timely review programme is an essential part of this.