Episode 376 | Author: Emilie Aries

In part one of my two-part series all about year-end performance reviews, I discussed my top 5 tips on how to make the most of your performance review and take the opportunity to advocate for yourself.

Today, I want to focus on performance reviews from the manager’s perspective.

Here are my 5 key recommendations for managers to make the most of the time you have with team members and give an effective review to progress in their career.

COMPARE EXPECTATIONS V. REALITY

First and foremost, compare your expectations of your team member’s performance to the reality of how clearly you’ve outlined those expectations.

Ask yourself where and when have you communicated your expectations clearly for this role? Perhaps you have a clear series of steps in your onboarding process that outlines how you do things.

If you haven't clearly detailed exactly what you expect from folks, then how can you review them? It's almost impossible for you to make the most of this performance review conversation without first having set clear expectations for their performance.

If that’s the case, this review becomes an opportunity to clarify those expectations, not hold people accountable to them. If you've found yourself not having set clear expectations as a leader, check out our resource all about how to set clear expectations as a leader .

If you have clearly detailed your expectations, then compare those expectations to the reality of how this person has been performing in their role. Where are they exceeding your expectations? Where are they going above and beyond what's expected of them? And where might they be falling short?

Identifying those variables within any person's performance is a great way to set yourself up for success in delivering constructive, helpful, insightful feedback in a performance review.

Using the same measuring stick to determine how well someone's performing in their role is key. Someone’s work quality should be measured objectively, not subjectively, whenever possible.

Try to keep personality out of this and try to keep your opinion out of this and instead compare their performance to the expectations associated with their role. The more black and white you can be, with clearly documented expectations as you guide, the better.

2. LET YOUR DIRECT REPORT LEAD THE CONVERSATION

I encourage you to think about giving your direct report the opportunity to lead the conversation.

I think it can be very powerful and much more informative if you allow your direct report to self-evaluate first.

Here at Bossed Up, we use a tasks and standards spreadsheet which details every single task that’s associated with each role.

If you give your direct report the opportunity to first evaluate themselves, you're giving them a framework to bring their own insights on their performance to the table. It's important for us, as managers, to be curious about our direct report’s perception of their own work and performance.

A lot of women I work with are high-achieving, perfectionistic, and their own worst critics. Because of that, it’s important to know how to advise your direct report when they overly-internalize the outcome of their performance, rather than the actions they took. As we all know, some things don’t always go as planned, but if your direct report did everything you would have wanted them to in that situation, we have to help them recognize that and decipher between what is versus what is not within their control.

Now, if you have a different perception of your direct report’s performance than they do, this conversation becomes a time to communicate clearly and candidly, but also with empathy.

Ask yourself how it’s possible that the two of you are seeing the same thing and perceiving what's happening so very differently. Get to the bottom of it by letting your direct report own that process, evaluate themselves, clarify where there's room for them to improve, and inspire them to be intrinsically motivated.

3. COACH WITH SPECIFICS

It's every manager's job to coach direct reports up through a performance review with really specific feedback. There are two frameworks that come with delivering specific and actionable feedback I want to share:

S.A.O. Feedback

Michelle King, one of our trainers in our Level Up, our leadership accelerator, talks a lot about “situation, action, outcome,” or SAO feedback. This particular framework involves being as specific as possible and having clear examples ready, especially when you want to tell someone they’re not meeting your expectations. Otherwise, folks tend to get defensive and vague feedback is extremely unhelpful.

For example, with SAO feedback, you can say:

The situation: “Our client came to you two weeks ago with a last minute request. It was well above and beyond the scope of our agreement. It was a ridiculous request, but they were in a real bind and they came to you because they were turning to you for help and they trusted you.”

The action: “And the action that you took in response to that situation was to blow them off, and to disregard their request.”

The outcome: “The outcome as a result of that action is that that client was unsatisfied.”

Once you’ve covered all that, you can give them a sense of what you would prefer they did in the future when a situation like that arises again.

Now, let's say the opposite happened. When you are dealing with a direct report and you're giving them feedback about how well they've established trust and good rapport with their clients, you might say:

The situation: “When your client came to you with this very specific situation a couple weeks ago, they made a crazy last-minute request.”

The action: “Even though you had a lot on your plate, you re-prioritized your workload. You even stayed a little later that day to complete that request in 24 hours.”

The outcome: “This client is so enthusiastic about working with us now. They trust us, and genuinely appreciate our support. They've already started sending referrals our way.”

By being that specific, you enable them to understand that it's not just praise and it's also not a critique - you're being really specific about how you want to see them replicate their success or adapt.

Reinforcing and Redirecting

Now let’s take this specificity of feedback a step farther. All good feedback is either redirecting or reinforcing.

Redirecting feedback is clarifying the action you expected your direct report to take because the action they took resulted in a short outcome.

For example, if your direct report left a client hanging in their inbox for three days which resulted in a unsatisfied client, you can redirect your feedback to the action you want them to take in the future: asking for help, communicating if they have too much on their plate, respond to the client to let me them know you’ve received their message and will get back to them, etc.

Reinforcing feedback is just as important! If your direct report takes an action that you’re happy with, reinforce that feedback and encourage them to continue that action.

For example, if you tell someone that you just “liked” how they handled a situation a couple weeks ago, you’re ultimately leaving what you specifically liked about their actions up for interpretation, right? Instead, tell them exactly what you appreciated about their decision-making and be clear about it.

If you want to learn more about how to give great feedback or even solicit specific feedback you might need to succeed, check out our resource called, Giving Effective Feedback

4. COMMUNICATE YOUR APPRECIATION

Although it's an important part of every manager's job to coach your direct reports and help them identify the skills gaps that might be preventing them from succeeding, it’s also important to cheer them on for the ways that they are already succeeding.

I was shocked to see that Great Place to Work had analyzed over 1.7 million employee survey responses and found 65% of employees say they have not received any form of recognition for good work in the last year. Yikes!

The vast majority of employees are working hard every day and don’t feel appreciated. Gallup cites that when people feel appreciated, and when they’re recognized effectively for what’s going well, then those employees are four times as likely to be actively engaged in their work, and five times as likely to see a growth path for themselves at their organization.

If you want to strive for a work culture where your direct report feels engaged in the work that they do, and not quietly quit on you, you have to express your appreciation.

5. SHARE WHAT ADVANCEMENT LOOKS LIKE

My final tip for preparing for a performance review with your direct reports, is to share what advancement looks like.

Part one of this series is all about how to advocate for yourself (as a direct report) and ask for what you want. If you're a manager, get ready to be asked for something and get ready to clarify what advancement possibilities exist.

Bottom line: if you can't tell them what advancement looks like for them within your organization, then they’re going to find it elsewhere.

Sometimes this means having a conversation with your own boss to get a clear understanding of what your direct report’s advancement looks like. How can you advocate for your own direct reports?

Your job as a people manager requires painting a clear picture for folks around what the future for growth looks like in your organization. And I get that that's not easy to do, but if you want to grow your craft in people management, give your direct reports the opportunity to do the same by clarifying what working on their craft looks like.

Giving and receiving feedback can be an intimidating experience for both sides of the equation. Managers in particular hold a lot of power and responsibility over how direct reports experience not only their work life, but their entire life. So take that responsibility seriously!

If you want to master your craft of leading a team or managing a direct report, learn more about Level Up, our 6-month leadership accelerator that will give you the tools to lead and manage like the boss you’re meant to be.

Got a career conundrum you want us to cover on the podcast? Call and leave us a voicemail NOW at 910-668-BOSS(2677).

Related Episodes