Think you're good at Performance Management? Here are the top 10 mistakes you're probably making.
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Let's face it, performance management is tricky. It's more of an art than a science. And we've all made mistakes. I certainly have, I've got the scars to prove it.
But here are the top 10 that if you start to avoid, you can really drive performance in your people.
Number one: not being prepared enough. Sometimes we all have busy schedules. So you really need to prepare, think about what you want to say, and how you want to say it, and what you want to leave that person after the conversation, thinking, feeling and ultimately doing.
The second is around focusing too much on negative feedback. Now the nature of performance management makes it feel as if you are trying to improve someone's performance. But helping someone improve their performance is not only about giving them praise, but also about giving them development feedback. So focus on both. Get a balance within that conversation.
Number three is not being focused enough. Now that can be not being focused enough in your delivery, but also not giving tangible examples. So really think about what you want a person to do as a result of that feedback.
Number four is about not bringing up new elements. Now this applies if you're doing annual appraisals, or even quarterly. You should be giving people continuous feedback all the time. So don't bring anything into a performance management conversation that you've not mentioned before. It's going to be a complete surprise to that person, and you're going to cause them huge amounts of stress and discombobulation.
Number five is not reviewing the whole year. Now you might have a check-in process, that means that you are checking in regularly. But ultimately, when you get to the end of the year, somebody needs to know where they have developed, what they've done really right and where you see them going in the next year. So make sure at the end of the year that you review the whole year, and you get the balance between the light and the shade.
Number six is about bundling appraisals and pay discussions. Now I fundamentally believe that pay should be linked to performance. However, I think it's really important to look at pay from three levels. And that is ultimately total reward. And look at it from an organisational perspective, a team perspective and an individual – because the danger is that if you give negative feedback, people will then feel that that is linked to pay. And it will undo all of the great work that you've done in that performance management conversation.
Number seven is focusing on process, rather than the individual. The individual should be at the heart of a performance management conversation. The process enables you to document, but it should not be the only way in which you capture that information. So think about the individual over process.
Number eight is about you doing all the talking. In any conversation it should be give and take. So you need to leave time for the individual to give you their feedback, and think about what they want to do rather than you just bombard and tell them what you think.
Number nine is not being clear on what you're evaluating. So that is about really being clear at the start of the year about objectives. But it's also thinking about the behaviours, and linking to values. So in any good performance management conversation, you should be thinking about what someone has done, and how they've done it.
And the final mistake – and this is the biggie – is not following up. Most people think that when they've done a performance management conversation they've documented on your HRIS system, that's enough. Actually, it should be a continuous conversation. Like anything, it doesn't stop when you leave the room or you leave Zoom or Teams. So, follow up on the actions. Hold that person to account, but also in reverse, they need to hold you accountable for the actions that you decided to take on as a result of that conversation.
And they are your top 10 tips. So do you agree with those 10 mistakes? Are you doing anything differently? I'd love to get your feedback, so please leave your comments below.
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