“Who here, by a show of hands, just loves the annual performance review process?”
That’s a question I’ve asked audiences all around the world, and I’ve never had anyone raise their hand with glee. Upon reflection, that’s not quite true. Someone did raise their hand once — but I suspect it was because they either didn’t understand the question or my English accent.
Point being, I think there’s something deep within our DNA that doesn’t like the idea of being judged. What is it about the human condition that seems to revile the idea of someone else playing judge over us?
The only thing that might be worse is when Human Resources decided to conduct 360-degree reviews — where peers and even our own direct reports are invited to give their opinions on our work performance. Now we have both judge and jury to contend with.
I’m no philosopher, but I think there are essentially three reasons employees don’t relish performance reviews:
Reason 1: The employee knows they’re doing a poor job and fears the repercussions.
Reason 2: The evaluator doesn’t do a good job and makes a mess of the performance review.
Reason 3: The employee is doing an excellent job, but the evaluator still feels compelled to set a “stretch goal” or note a few “areas for improvement” — if only to complete the form fully for Human Resources.
Let’s double-click on each of these.
Recommendation for Reason 1:
To someone who isn’t doing a good job, I’d say this: You need to improve your performance or find a new job. Yes, seek support from your manager. Yes, seek training. But if you’re not enjoying your work, it shows in how you perform it. Do yourself a favor — and do your customers and colleagues a favor — and find a new role ASAP. We each spend an average of 22% of our total waking lives at work. Why continue to do a job half-heartedly?
Recommendation for Reason 2:
My strongest recommendation to anyone with the sacred responsibility of evaluating another person is to know when to use the verb “to be” and when to use the verb “to do.”
Simply put, when applauding someone’s performance, use the verb to be — and its variations such as you were, you are, or you will always be — to begin your feedback. And be specific.
When offering constructive (performance-improving) feedback, focus instead on the verb to do, using phrases such as you did, you do, or you tend to. Why? When you want to lift someone up and encourage them to repeat excellent performance, focus on the person. We do that by using to be. When you want to correct a behavior — without attacking the individual — focus on to do. It’s the behavior that needs fixing, not the person.
Use to be for negative feedback, and you’ll all but guarantee a fast track to the Human Resources office — often with the employee closely followed by their personal injury attorney.
Recommendation for Reason 3:
Sometimes — albeit rarely — the best thing we can say to a high performer is just five words: “Thank you” and “Keep it up.”
Superstars shine even brighter when they hear those words, especially when they’re wrapped in specific examples.
As a personal example, my wife of 31 years has spent the past four weeks back in England nursing her mother 24/7. We decided I should stay home so she could give her full attention to her mom. My wife is an incredible chef, and before she left, she cooked 39 meals, froze them, and labeled each one for me. She even created a schedule to ensure I wasn’t eating tri-tip every single day.
Between you and me, some of the handwriting on the freezer labels was a bit hard to read — and I would have appreciated capitalization. But at this level of peak performance, all I can say is “Thank you” and (please) “Keep it up.”
Likewise for evaluators in the workplace — don’t feel like you have be picky when it comes to being grateful for those around you, (like my wife) who are almost perfect.
Paul Butler is a Santa Clarita Valley resident and a client partner with Newleaf Training and Development of Valencia (newleaftd.com). For questions or comments, email Butler at [email protected].
