Friday Reflections - 5 Tips For A Successful Performance Management Process.

Happy Friday! This Friday Reflection will be short because I'm out of the office today.

I was recently interviewed by Authority Magazine as part of their series on "5 Tips For A Successful Performance Management Process". The article was just published this week so I wanted to share it as many of y'all head into performance review season.

Here's an excerpt:

Interviewer: Let’s now move to the central part of our interview. Why is performance management so tricky to get right?

Me: There are many reasons, but I believe one of the most significant is that performance management is predicated on giving and receiving feedback, which most people associate with discomfort and conflict.

As a result, feedback is only given when it has to be given, for example in an annual performance review. When that happens, the person giving the feedback still feels uncomfortable and consequently doesn’t give direct or actionable feedback or may share their feedback in an ineffective way.

And then the person receiving the feedback feels confused and demotivated and is unsure where exactly they missed the mark or how exactly to improve.

Interviewer: Where do you see a lot of organizations go wrong with performance management?

Me: Most performance management systems and processes are based on an archaic model that no longer fits today’s context. Younger generations want and expect consistent, real-time feedback, so a system that provides feedback once a year simply doesn’t work.

Many systems also try to assess too many things at once and aren’t optimized to collect honest, actionable feedback. This results in performance reviews being seen as a burden or a “check-the-box” task versus an opportunity to productively move the team forward.

Click the link below to read more and let me know your thoughts on the 5 tips I share!

Stay curious,

Jessica

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