Reviews are a two-way street
By Ann-Maree Moodie | smh.com.au | 10 October
When Peter Wilson was promoted to his first management position, his then boss gave him a sage piece of advice. Working in a technical role, Wilson was told, is about getting the best from yourself. Working as a manager is about getting the best out of others.
Wilson, now national president of the Australian Human Resources Institute, has never forgotten the words and believes they remain apt for managers who are called on to motivate staff and provide feedback.
Among management tasks, critiquing staff is among the most dreaded but it is vital to the smooth running of a business and considerably easier now than 15 years ago. "In the old days, receiving your performance review was ... like being on trial," says Wilson. "It was intimidating and emotionally draining."
The advent of the emotional intelligence movement in the 1990s led to a change in attitude.
The annual performance review became a staged affair of regular reviews and feedback, leading to a final report after 12 months when both parties knew there'd be no surprises.
Another force driving this kind of review was the attitude of generation X and then Y, who had less respect for authority than the baby boomers. They preferred an open, transparent relationships with their colleagues and bosses. "That's why a performance review often concludes with the manager asking the team member to rate their performance as a boss," Wilson says. "In this way, the review becomes a two-way conversation between two people who respect each other's roles."
Today it's felt the best way to give feedback is to focus on job-related behaviour. This approach gives the team member specific guidance on conduct that is appropriate, and leaves the member with no doubts about unacceptable behaviour.
Sticking to job-related issues helps keep the conversation from becoming personal. As a manager, it's important to be non-judgmental, especially when giving negative feedback. This means the employee is less likely to feel ambushed and more likely to be receptive to advice.
Set goals and stick to them. Work out what you want to achieve in the feedback session beforehand. For example, if the team member has been performing well but his or her productivity or attitude has changed in the past week, be prepared to hear why. If the distraction is temporary because of a personal issue, it won't reflect well on you as the manager if you discipline him or her unfairly without having all the information.
The most important thing to remember is that team members clearly understand what's expected of them. One way to do this is to have them paraphrase the discussion to check they understand the message. If not, clarify any issue before any misunderstanding causes a bigger problem.
The hallmarks of a good feedback session is when team members clearly understand what's expected and know what they've done well and where they could improve. Managers and team members alike leave the meeting energised.
Sometimes giving negative feedback is unavoidable. If team members have not performed well and their conduct has been damaging, it is a time to clear the air and find ways to move on positively.
But if a manager doesn't have reason to criticise a team member, yet the person leaves the performance appraisal feeling ambushed, it may be time for the manager's performance to be reviewed instead.
Employees who feel disenchanted after a performance review are likely to be disengaged and unproductive. Their productivity will decrease and this will affect the performance of the whole team.
Another consequence is increased staff turnover. The published average annual turnover of staff in large Australian companies is 12.6 per cent but research by the Australian Human Resources Institute suggests the figure is closer to 18 per cent. The survey, titled Love 'Em Don't Lose 'Em: Identifying Retention Strategies That Work, found that 36 per cent of respondents say the relationship between employees and their manager is a key reason for resigning.
"Good communication skills are critical to your success as a manager," Wilson says. "This means having a clear message and being prepared to listen. It's important to be open and if a mistake has been made, think of it as a way for the employee to learn."
What not to say
"He's depriving some village of an idiot" is one of the pithiest comments made on a written performance appraisal. Or so the (perhaps apocryphal) story goes.
Other review comments purportedly made by managers about underlings include: "He would be out of his depth in a puddle"; "He suffers from delusions of adequacy"; and "He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."
Such comments, while amusing to recount, are likely to cause serious emotional upset and repercussions for the manager involved. With staff turnover still an issue for many companies, it is wiser to take a more measured and considered approach to review sessions.
originally published Sept 13, 2008
First published by Smh.com.au on October 10 2008
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