Landing Point and LifeLabs Learning partnered once again to host a virtual workshop on optimizing performance management—a timely topic as year-end reviews approach. Facilitator Ashley Schwedt led an interactive, highly collaborative session, sharing practical strategies that participants can put into action immediately. Here’s a recap of her top tips for maximizing performance management:
1. Creating a Feedback Culture:
In order to optimize performance management, a company needs to first have an environment where it’s encouraged and employees are trained to ask and give feedback in all directions. Her pro tip to put this into action: have a system, a cue, or a symbol that reminds your workforce to ask and give feedback.
2. Optimize Reviews:
To improve your performance review process, LifeLabs provided the acronym, FACTS, to describe what makes for a positive review process: Fair, Accountable, Clear Criteria, Timely, and Specific. When it comes to being fair, we discussed some tactics such as decoupling compensation, deblurring calibration, and overall educating reviewers on bias. To be accountable, you can provide feedback as part of manager expectations, and consider following an identified feedback model versus an anonymous one. Setting clear criteria makes it so that everyone is on the same page and can track metrics properly. Timely feedback relates to the concept that a performance review should be just that – A REVIEW. Performance reviews are an opportunity to discuss the big themes from feedback that has already been given, not new feedback. Ashley recommended keeping a performance journal to track feedback given and help identify any feedback from others, things we’re proud of, and things we try to do but fail. And lastly, be specific, instead of speaking in blurry terms like “success” and “failures,” have concrete examples that speak to the feedback.
3. Train Your Reviewers:
To have a successful performance review process, your reviewers need to be trained. The high-level tips are to do a bias check, connect the data and impact, and ensure the tone is right in how the feedback is delivered.
The Point:
Performance reviews are a culmination of feedback efforts that, if done well, can prove to be a highly effective tool that promotes employee retention and growth, ultimately making a company more successful overall.
LifeLabs Learning is the go-to leadership training company for managers, execs, and teams at innovative companies like Reddit, Lyft, Warby Parker, and Tinder. Check out their Program Menu for workshop details.