HR Thoughts

A strong performance evaluation does not just happen.

Ask a Manager  has a wonderful post on conducting strong performance evaluations. If you are a new manager conducting reviews for the first time or an experienced one wanting a little refresher, review this before you begin and you will be better prepared.

Preparation is a non-negotiable. When should a manager start preparing for reviews of his or her direct reports? One week before? Cold. One month before? Still cold. Mid year? Getting warmer. The day he or she closes out the past year's reviews? Hot. How about even before that? Even hotter. What if managers starting looking at performance as a continuous cycle of learning and growth and the reviews as check-ins, or course adjusters, along the way? They'd be on fire.

Preparation starts with the manager. Preparations include performance or job descriptions for staff members that compliment and support each other in accomplishing the work, performance plans that define the critical and non-critical aspects of a position, and quantifiable measures of success.

Preparation requires thought and introspection. How do you (not the manager down the hall or in the other department) differentiate between "meets" and "exceeds" ratings. How do you differentiate between fully successful and exceptional employees? Here is how the HR Capitalist does it. If you can't articulate this distinction clearly to yourself before you develop your plans, you will not be able to communicate it to your employees. This is easily one of the most difficult parts of performance management. Stay in the game (like you have a choice!) and you will see just that much more clarity, refinement and distinction (not to mention confidence) with each iteration. 

The manager is clearly one part of the performance equation; the employee is the other. Two parts make a whole and each individual employee is responsible for their performance. Employees responsible for their performance would do things like:

• Review the position description and performance plan for the position. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. Keep asking until they understand what is expected. Discuss challenges in meeting or exceeding. Suggest revisions, additions, deletions.
• Ask for feedback. Be open to feedback. Listen. Ask questions.
• Assess their own performance. How have they differentiated themselves from their peers?  What accomplishments are they most proud of? What challenges did they face and overcome? Face and get crushed by? Face and learn from? Employees responsible for their performance will tell you.
• Prepare a self assessment. Wait, did you hear that? Did you hear a voice that said, "That's a supervisor's job, he or she is supposed to know what employees do. If the manager doesn't know, the employees are not responsible for telling them." That particular voice can be a post in and of itself and to sum it up in a few words - SILENCE IT. Employees are responsible for their performance.

Preparation is key. Preparation does not ensure that all will go well. It does not guarantee that everyone will be pleased. It does not guarantee comfort. It does not mean that you, as the manager, will not wish you had said or done something differently. It means that you value your employees enough to give them the time and attention they deserve. It means that you take this stuff seriously.  

The best words to live by for managers were provided very recently by Ask a Manager when she posted,  "Be honest with your staff about the hard things. Even if you're uncomfortable addressing shortcomings, tell them where they can improve. Don't value your own comfort over their ability to grow and improve. . ." Read the rest of this bullet and the entire list here.

It is all about learning and growth. A strong performance evaluation does not just happen.

Defining levels of performance has been a topic for me for the better part of the year beginning with annual reviews in October, continuing through mid-term reviews in April and still today.

Recently, Kris at The HR Capitalist entered into the conversation here and here  and here  in a very valuable way. In addition to looking at defining performance from a manager's perspective, he took at look at it from the employee's angle. While this did not relieve me of my responsibility of defining levels of performance for my staff, it added a degree of employee responsibility - a shared component. How does an individual employee differentiate him or herself from their peers, consistent with or in alignment with my expectations?

I went in for a haircut this morning and am in the process of changing stylists. Well, I sat in the chair and the new stylist asked me what I wanted. I asked her what she suggested. She looked at me, fingered my hair and instead of taking the ball and running with it, instead asked how much I want to take off and where.  Well, I told her how much to take off and where to take it off.

I got exactly what I asked for but not what I wanted. I wanted a trendy suggestion from a stylist who had ideas about what would work best with my hair texture, face, need for minimal maintenance, etc. I was relying on her expertise to lead the way and she gave the ball right back to me. So, I got my hair cut on the sides and in the back by a fully satisfactory stylist. This stylist provided me with a good cut, yet, for me, she failed to differentiate herself from others.

When I assess and rate, I consider experiences, obstacles, observations, product, feedback and also a requested self-assessment. This year, when I request the self-assessment, I will include the question, "how did you differentiate yourself over the past year?" For those who answer, I am ready to listen.

Differentiation is the message I am introducing to my staff as part of their individual performance management and to supervisors as a tool to add to their ever expanding tool box.

How do you conduct mid-term performance discussions?

If you have been with me for the past few months, you may remember that when I started blogging, I was in the midst of end of year performance reviews. Well, we have come half-circle in the organization and are at the mid-term point. As a supervisor or manager, you have a perspective of how your department is performing. If you are more than a one-man or woman show, there are other internal perspectives out there.

Ever wonder what they think? I do.

Ever think of asking them? I did. 

I have my perspective and mine is but one of 9. I was curious to know what the others thought so I am asking each member of my staff the following questions as part of our mid term performance discussions:

• How do you feel the department working? Are we growing, stagnant, falling backwards?
• What do you see as the top 2-3 strengths of the department?
• If you had a magic wand, what 2-3 things would you seek to change? What impact or difference would that make and what priority would it be for you?

My plan is to share this information with the department when I am done and set goals and expectations for the next six months around what I heard. So far, the discussions have been thoughtful and forthcoming. While not a lot has been a surprise and they are tracking with my perception in most cases, the value for me has been in having the conversations themselves.

One of my goals is to move us more towards working from an internal consultant model and anticipate using the same types of questions with our external customers. If you have used this approach before and have any suggestions or lessons learned to share, I'd love to hear from you.

I am in the midst right now of developing performance standards. We recently transitioned from basically a pass-fail system to a 5 level system where ratings range for Outstanding to Unsatisfactory. We are required, by the Master Agreement and sound performance management principles, to develop definitive standards of performance at the Fully Satisfactory and Exceptional levels.  Makes perfect sense, an employee needs to understand the expectations in order to succeed. How can you help or expect a person to develop and grow and be successful if you as their supervisor can't articulate what it takes to get there. I got that, totally and completely. I know Exceptional performance when I see it and have gone through the process of transferring my thoughts onto paper.

The place where I get stuck is the tolerance for error or "allowable quota", e.g. how many times can they not meet the standard and still be Fully Satisfactory. Every time I go to put a number in there, I can feel the resistance rising and I just don't want to do it. Why not? I am not quite to the root of  my resistance but the main thoughts racing in my head now are:

• I don't want to be boxed in. I may have two people who exceed the allowable quota and the scope or impact of the instance are very different and I want the ability and flexibility to consider that in my evaluation. Someone may exceed the allowable quota and that may be the only area where they are not excelling and, all things considered, that does not rise to the level of a person has not exceeded their quota for error yet is right on the edge in every area. 
• My staff, and most of the staff across the medical center, are knowledge workers and their achievements are more quality than quantity based.  Trying to successfully quantify quality is a challenge. For me, it feels as though I am, in a way, reducing it to the lowest common denominator. 
• Why can't we all be adults and talk about performance based on data and results achieved without reducing it to numbers of errors or a specified percentage change allowed?

I want to be able to give employees the benefit of the doubt and conversely to hold them accountable for their performance. I am struggling with the best way to do that for my employees and to advise other supervisors in doing the same.

I think it will come down to a matter of perspective or approach and I am in the inquiry now.

Yes, I was still struggling with performance reviews and know enough about myself to know that when I struggle this much with a task or an issue it is either because I simply don’t know how to do it or I am out of integrity. I know how to do performance reviews so why was I having such a difficult time determining final rating for my staff? I was definitely torn and through the internal struggle, came to the realization that my department is a good solid fully satisfactory. When I said that, my internal struggle ceased and was replaced very rapid breathing. My breathing returned to normal (!) and I knew that although I already knew the answer in my heart, I had to confirm this with another. I put two people in a tough spot who confirmed my assessment. I expected nothing less than total honesty and that is what I received. My thanks to them both.

So, why does this assessment seem like a bad thing to me? Why do I keep typing "only fully satisfactory" and then taking the "only" out? A fully satisfactory assessment means that we are doing what we are being paid to do. So why is it an "only" to me? Fully satisfactory is simply not enough. I am not here to just do my job, I am here to make a difference and a fully satisfactory means that I am not. It is my department, my job, my piece of the puzzle and the responsibility starts and end with me. It is my role and my leadership and I need to take a honest, close up look at both. What does excellent look like? I know it when I see it and know that one of my next steps is to define it for others.

A good solid fully satisfactory is simply not good enough.