Performance Reviews Made Easy

Performance reviews seem to cause concern to both Managers and their Staff. We find in our Company Executive Coaching practice that this topic seems to come up fairly frequently.

For Line Managers using executive coaching the issues seem to centre on how to tell a member of staff that performance needs to improve. For members of Staff using executive coaching the main topic seems to be how their performance might be perceived by their Line Manager or Director. But with a bit of forethought there is the opportunity to remove any anxiety about a performance review.

Reducing Anxiety about Performance Review

In our executive coaching practice we take the view that the best way to reduce any concerns about performance review is to make it a continual process, and not an annual event. In this way nothing should come as a surprise at the annual performance review. By making it a continual process there is also the key advantage that discussions can take place without the worry of a rating that may be linked to a pay review or promotion. If performance review only takes place once a year it can turn into a negotiation because of the link to pay and promotion.

Performance Review as a Continual Process

It seems that many Managers in both large and small companies find themselves too busy to make time for a monthly or financial period performance review with their direct reports. We find this to be the case with many of our executive coaching clients. This means that any feedback on performance will be ad hoc until the staging of the annual performance review. However there is a better way of being a more effective leader and developer of people.

The start point of a robust review system is the setting of clear and measurable annual objectives. These should provide the foundation for a regular performance review. It enables a member of Staff to be clear about what is expected of them over the year. Then they can set their priorities and get on with the job. We would recommend that at the start of the year a Director or Line Manager gives each of their team set dates for performance review discussions over the year (monthly or for each financial period). The purpose of these reviews is to enable staff to know they have structured time with their Manager, on a regular basis, where they can report on progress and get help and support on problem areas. This has the advantage of reducing the number of day to day queries a Manager has to deal with, as the staff know they can save issues until the performance review meeting.

The agenda for the meeting should be led by the member of staff (reducing the preparation time for reviews by the Manager). The basis of the agenda should be for the member of staff to report back on plans for achieving objectives and the progress made to date. This enables the Manager to be fully up to speed on the achievement of objectives across his or her area of responsibility. As a key part of the discussions the Manager should be giving feedback on performance at each meeting – this includes things needing improvement as well as recognising success. Following each meeting action notes should be issued stating what needs to be done, by when and by whom.

The Annual Performance Review

Having completed around 12 monthly reviews there should not really be any surprises at the annual review. The action notes from each monthly meeting provide all the examples and evidence for the annual review. Plus the achievement of annual objectives should provide the foundation for the overall annual rating. Where competencies also have to be rated there should be plenty of evidence for the ratings from the monthly reviews. In our executive coaching practice we find that where members of Staff who have had a monthly review are asked to prepare their own assessment of their annual performance, they tend to rate themselves accurately, or sometimes too harshly. But most importantly any element of surprise has been taken out of the meeting for them and their Manager.

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