Managers can be effective coaches to assist their employees in achieving
desired outcomes and increased performance. They just need to know how. A good
avenue to do this is in the informal performance review process.
Informal reviews serve several purposes, including the following:
- Provide feedback for a specific job or how the person responded to a
situation
- Set and reset goals
- Provide clarity to the employee
- Help reinforce good habits and point out bad habits
- Identify special skills and accomplishments
- Provide specific recognition
- Provide clarity and encouragement to the employee
The three steps of an informal performance review include:
- Acknowledge the good the person did and thank him or her for it.
- Address any areas that need to be corrected or improved.
- Speak specifically about your hope that the employee will be successful
in the future because of the specific strengths and abilities you have
seen.
Use the Review To Make Headway
Take time to think about the employee's contribution from his/her
perspective. Almost all employees try to do a good job and consider their work
a personal reflection on them. If you analyze or criticize an employee's
work without seeing how much he/she wants to contribute and without
acknowledging how much the person did contribute, then you are throwing the
baby out with the bathwater! Keep in mind that the key to getting the employee
to hear what you have to say is for you to value and honor what is most
important to that employee.
Informal reviews are significant opportunities for encouragement and
support. Use the completion of projects and tasks as opportunities for you to
encourage, point out successes, and give your direct reports real and concrete
reinforcement of their strengths and weaknesses. People continue to do things
for which they get desirable rewards. Informal reviews are a great opportunity
to reward wanted, productive, and useful behaviors.
Lastly, if you are like many leaders who place the bar very high for
themselves, watch out for the tendency to set unrealistically high demands for
others. Try to determine the unique motivators and skill sets of your direct
reports to establish realistic expectations for each.
See the article "Formal
Performance Review Best Practices: Turning a Judging Act into a Coaching
Process" for more formal review techniques.
Mike
Poskey is president of ZERORISK HR, Inc., a Dallas-based human
resources risk management firm and exclusive provider of ZERORISK Hiring
System. For more information, visit www.ZERORISKHR.com or email Mike at
.