5 Things to Know About Performance

Keywords: Performance, conversation, engagement

Performance evaluations are designed to be a two-way street and part of an ongoing ritual to establish trust and confidence in the employee and leader relationship. To strengthen that experience, here are five things to shape your next performance conversation.

1. Lead with kindness.

Emotional intelligence can go a long way in conversations with your team. When you come from a place of understanding and lead with kindness, you create a safe and productive environment. Employees reciprocate and mirror your actions. Allow them the space to learn about areas of improvement and discuss moments of success in a supportive manner.

2. Be candid and realistic.

In any performance conversation, it’s important to be honest in expectations, goals, and status reports. Clarity provides an employee the opportunity to understand how they measure to department standards. If you’re straightforward with feedback, employees will feel as though they can express concerns or ideas in the same manner. By not providing honest feedback, you’re holding both your employee and company back from reaching their full potential.

3. Develop a ritual.

Work with your team or individual employees to determine a regular cadence for 1:1 meetings. Regularly meeting with your team to assess workload, skill upleveling, and morale helps to reduce anxiety or fear for mid-year or end-of-year performance evaluations. Use this ritual to build connections with your team and support their growth and development.

4. Take notes.

Use this 1:1 time to actively listen and take notes on what’s important to the individual. It’s one thing to schedule a meeting and mark it complete from your to-do list, but it’s an entirely different and more rewarding experience to engage in the conversation. When employees realize you’re taking interest in what they’re sharing and you remind them of these conversations down the road, you make them feel valued and appreciated, regardless of the topic.

5. Follow through.

Provide opportunities or contacts that help your employees grow. If they show interest in a training or conference, ask them to provide the necessary information needed for financial approval or provide alternatives that fit within your budget. During these conversations, an employee might also show interest in learning more about a different role or organization. Use your network to connect them to someone with that experience and encourage a brief coffee chat or email exchange. Extending the conversation beyond the allotted time into actionable objectives can make a difference in an employee’s engagement.