Performance Management That Matters

I’d been a leader for several years before conducting my first actual performance review.

My previous leadership positions had been at two different academic institutions, and we didn’t do performance reviews, at least not in any formal way. People were given raises based on the subjective assessment of the leader. If he liked you, you got a bigger raise — and if he didn’t, you didn’t.

So when I joined a tech firm and was later promoted to be a customer support team leader, I was tasked to conduct performance reviews at the end of the year.

These annual reviews were the first time I had a formal conversation with any member of the team. Yes, of course, I frequently talked with team members about client issues and challenges. We were in constant conversation about the speed to resolution of software repair tickets. We also bantered on about life, families, sports, politics, and just about anything else.

However, I never talked one-on-one with my team members about their professional goals, their aspirations, or their performance.

Tears in His Eyes…

Heading into these performance reviews created some anxiety for all of us. I had to, based on a performance scale, rate each member of the team. In my team of 12, I had:

• Strong performers who I could always count on to do excellent work
• Individuals who thought they were strong performers but were really just average or below average
• Others who were average performers and knew it
• Those who were barely hanging onto their jobs — who also knew it

I’ll never forget my conversation with one of the new team members who had just finished graduate school. He had a young family and no doubt a lot of school debt. He was a strong performer yet probably didn’t realize his value to the team. (Remember, I wasn’t having those kinds of conversations with him or anyone else.)

When I shared with him his rating — which meant he’d be getting about a $4,000 raise — he was dumbfounded, and his eyes began to fill with tears.

When he gained his composure, he explained that with school debt, a new baby on the way, and an apartment that was too small, they could now afford to buy a home. I was thrilled for him and his family and humbled to play a small part in helping this family take the next step in life: home ownership.

I was also a bit ashamed that, as his leader, I didn’t know his situation. We had talked, but we hadn’t really talked. I didn’t know what challenges and battles he was fighting outside of work. I had no idea how much this performance review and subsequent raise, as modest as it was, would mean to him.

Most of us now know that having only one formal conversation a year about performance expectations is a dereliction of duty. Not only do we need to be in regular conversation with our people, but through those conversations, they need to genuinely feel that they matter to me as their leader as well as the organization.

They need to know that their contribution matters; or what it would take for their performance to exceed expectation. And these conversations are most impactful long before the formal annual performance appraisal.

The Three Cs of Any Conversation

New York Times best-selling author and coaching thought leader Alan Fine describes that at their most fundamental level, coaching and/or performance conversations need to be three things: 

• Caring
• Candid
• Constructive

What if I had deployed the three C’s all those years ago before with my young team member who was genuinely shocked to become aware of his value to the team?

What if in every conversation with my team, I was caring, candid, and constructive? What if I had taken the time to meet monthly, bi-weekly, or even weekly with my team members? What impact would that have on employee performance?

Performance Management Starts With Genuinely Caring

Many organizations have formal performance management systems and accompanying online tools. We totally applaud that. However, effective performance management starts with genuinely caring about your people…not just caring about their performance on the job.

You must take an interest in them personally and in what’s happening in their lives outside of work. How are things in their families or with their significant others? How are their children doing? Do they have parents who are aging and needing extra attention? How do they spend their time when they’re not working?

My vice president starts every weekly one-on-one by asking what’s happening in my life and with my family. She’s genuinely interested in what’s going on, and she’s quick to celebrate the joys of life that my wife and I experience with our children and grandchildren.

Think about your best coach, mentor, or leader. Didn’t you feel that you mattered personally to them? Didn’t they invest time in you to help you take the next steps on your professional journey that also seemed to help you in your personal life? Didn’t they see potential in you that you may not have seen in yourself?

Years ago, at a company conference during a break, I was standing against the wall with my managing director. We had spent time together personally and professionally, and he had been investing in me and helping me develop as a leader.

I mentioned to him that I felt like I was struggling to find balance and peace in multiple arenas of my life. He gently recommended a book and a specific chapter in the book that I should read. 

He made the recommendation without judgment, but when I read what he suggested, I was humbled (and perhaps gently rebuked). He could see what I needed and cared enough to offer a solution tailored for me that would move me forward personally and professionally. And I took the suggestion because I knew I mattered to him.

Continuous performance management that matters starts with leaders who convey to their people that they matter. Learn more about having effective coaching conversations and giving feedback here.