The deepest fear we have, 'the fear beneath all fears,' is the fear of not measuring up, the fear of judgment. It's this fear that creates the stress and depression of everyday life.
Do you like going to parties and events where you meet
new, non-HR, people? Do you enjoy the small talk about what you do
for work? That used to be so easy when I
was a lawyer. Everybody knows what that
is. But now that I am in HR, I don’t really
like to answer this. It is not because I
don’t like my work. I do. In fact, I am really passionate about
work. It is just that I don’t know how
to explain it well.
It always goes something like this: “What do you do”? Me: “I
work for Sanoma? “ Then: “What do you
do there.” Me: “I work in HR.” And then
the response is: “oh” or “huh”
or “really” or “oh no”. It never
seems to impress or inspire anyone. I
know, I know; it shouldn’t matter what others think. But, instead of just letting it go, I find
myself being very defensive of my career choice and end up cheerleading HR. Because it is such an exciting and important
field and I want everyone to understand that.
And sometimes this works. At
least for a little while.
But, inevitably, things get tense when we get to the
topic of performance management. That
is what I do. And here, the pleasant small talk turns a bit edgy. Everyone
who has worked in a company where performance was rated seemed to have had a bad
experience. No one likes it, and most
hate it. And I
always get the feeling they blame the likes of me for their bad
experiences.
So, why do we keep doing it and why do I like it.
Critical Clarity
First off, performance management is not just about
rating and judging. The frustration and
anger is always about this part. But,
the first and foremost goal of performance management is to make clear what you
expect of people.
We all want to know what we are expected to do. Clarity is critical. Great managers will also show how we fit into the bigger picture. So that we people feel part of something bigger than just their own job, team or department.
We all want to know what we are expected to do. Clarity is critical. Great managers will also show how we fit into the bigger picture. So that we people feel part of something bigger than just their own job, team or department.
And when you know what you’re expected to do, you
obviously want to know how you are doing in meeting those expectations. And here it gets difficult. Here is where things go wrong. Because here someone needs to pass judgment
on another person. This is inherently uncomfortable.
Courageous Feedback
For feedback to work, both the giver and the receiver
have to understand their part.
If you are the feedback giver, you need to care enough to give constructive feedback. You need to mean well, be honest and open. And you must say so in clear, convincing and actionable terms.
That takes courage. Because when you speak up you are crossing a social boundary. You may be rejected, or scolded or made to feel dumb. Plus, your hope that things might change just may be crushed. This happens when the feedback receiver feels attacked, deflects blame and points fingers.
You run the risk that your relationship will be forever be scarred. And many don’t bother.
If you are the feedback receiver you need to care even
more. You need to be open to the
constructive feedback, savor it and dive into it. It is wise to receive it with an open
mind. It is a gift that is not offered
often. And you’re lucky someone cared enough.
Dare to
differentiate
But it does not stop here. There is also the rating and the ranking The
“guts” of performance management. Here
you need to let people know where they stand – how they’re doing today and what
their future looks like. Are they a
star, just average or below? The critics
call it “Rank-and-Yank” which means that companies supposedly identify their
worst performers once a year and then, boom, fire them (yank them). And there is tons of criticism.
But, rating and ranking is about differentiation. Lets face it, not everyone is performing at
the same level. People come with their
talent. Different talent. Talent is just not equal. Period.
We all know that. We should not
be looking for equal but instead we need to think of what is fair.
Let’s start by acknowledging that fairness has nothing
to do with treating everyone equal. No
company’s strategy is to invest equally in all employees. The last time where everyone got a trophy was
in kindergarten. Differentiation is what
we want and expect. Fairness is
recognizing that some contribute more than others. And the ones that contribute the most should
get the biggest piece of the pie. This is the practice of differentiation and it is
powerfully effective.
There are many who feel that the bell curve aspect of differentiation
is “cruel.” But we do not find this a
problem in school where we grade children as young as 9 or 10. And we are totally fine with this in sports
and play as well. Why is it then that
when we rank at work people can’t take it.
Explain that one to me.
Differentiation is about consistency,
transparency and candor. Candor is
absolutely essential to make differentiation work. Great managers know that you owe candor to
your people. Why should anyone guess what you think of them. Most people appreciate
this reality check, and today's "Millennials" practically demand it.
Satisfy your Stars
So much of the criticism is about the value of ranking when it comes to motivating mediocre performers. “I am afraid that she will be totally crushed and demotivated if I tell her she is not as great as she thinks she is”, “he will stop putting in any effort if I tell him he is not great.”
So much of the criticism is about the value of ranking when it comes to motivating mediocre performers. “I am afraid that she will be totally crushed and demotivated if I tell her she is not as great as she thinks she is”, “he will stop putting in any effort if I tell him he is not great.”
Obviously, mediocre performers do not like it. It is calling attention to the fact that they
are not meeting expectations and letting their team down. Being told that you aren’t making the grade is ego-threatening
and generally unpleasant. But they need
to know.
This is why we need great managers who can give courageous
feedback.
But, let’s not stop here. How about the high performers. What about them? Shouldn’t you not be even more concerned with
your stars? What do they need?
Stars like the outcome of performance management; the rating
and ranking. Stars are motivated by
being the best in their class. They want
to win, it is part of their DNA. Or else,
if stars do not care how they stack up
against others, they want to be as best
as they can possibly be. To be as close
to perfection as possible. Ranking then is recognition for a job well done.
Stars also like ranking because it protects them from low
performers. They do not like working with
people who do not share their commitment to quality and productivity.
High performing folks like to work with other high
performing folks in a high performance culture.
Ranking and rating are a critical part of creating this culture.
Don’t be a Foolish
follower
The blogosphere is full of pleas to do away with
performance reviews and ratings. Because
employees and manager alike hate them. They
take lots of valuable time from our managers and its effectiveness is ambiguous
at best. These
stories are compelling and they make me feel as if I am a bit old school for still
doing it. The last thing I want to be accused
of is being old school.
But hold on a minute.
Can it be that simple, just get rid of it? Does that not sound too good to be true to
you? It did to me. And it is too good to be true. The fact remains that every company has
limited resources for investments (salary increases, development and
promotion). If you get rid of your
measuring stick (rating), how are you going to make decisions? Because decisions will still be made by someone
somewhere. As said before, no company’s strategy is to invest equally in
all employees. So, without this process
those judgments are now completely hidden
This total lack of transparency is certainly not what
we want, right?.
So, we need this process. But we can do better. No one likes a lousy process
Measure more things
One of the criticism on differentiation is that the focus
in on individual results and that it kills teamwork. But, that is not necessarily true. If you made clear from the start that you
expect people to act as team players, it is part of what is being
measured.
The same thing goes for values. Defining what you expect of people should capture
the company’s mission (where it's going) and its
values (the behaviors that are going to get it there).
Finally,
the forerunners are starting to include personal achievement goals, totally
unrelated to company goals. Here are
some examples:
- complete
3 chapters of a novel
- broaden
social network
- lose 20
pounds
- add 6
pounds of muscle
- create
a healthier home environment
Why? Because this has everything to
do with caring for someone’s well-being and thus company culture. Supporting employees in their personal goals
has a direct impact on their performance in the office.
I am following this with great interest.
I believe that well-being is the next big thing. And I
am not alone. Well-being has been put on
the agenda for large multinational CEOs and governments all over the world.
Measure more often
Employees need and
want regular feedback (daily, weekly), so a once-a-year review is not good
enough. Regular coaching works
best. For the poor performers it is
absolutely necessary to address the performance issues immediately. And praising high performers in real time is
much preferred.
Google is using
the so-called OKR (Objectives and Key Results) and many start-ups have copied
this secret sauce. OKR process is a
quarterly process where you define an objective and have measurable results toward
reaching that goal in simple terms
Interestingly, quarterly OKRs are NOT performance
reviews. The performance review is a
separate process. As part of the
performance review process, Googlers need to reflect on their performance. OKRs are a perfect tool for that.
Not many
will argue that once-a-year review is enough.
It is the absolute minimum. And doing
it once is better than not doing it at all.
More people
measure
Most performance reviews are done by just the manager. It is about his/her opinon; a manager knows all – type- of- process. But manager and employee relationships are no longer 1:1. To get the true measure of performance lots of peer input is needed.
The pioneers here are going much further. They believe that we’re on the cusp of a major change that uses the power of social to fundamentally shift from a traditional, top-down management hierarchy to a new bottom-up approach. They will be using the wisdom of the crowd or crowdsourcing.
The idea is that a group of independently deciding individuals will make better decisions and more accurate observations than those of an individual. By leveraging social tools and data, managers can better collect, evaluate and share information on employee performance.
We better watch it. It will disrupt all of HR.
…
Back to the party. So, how would you explain it well. Let’s face it, it would be incredibly obnoxious to lecture anyone at the party who does not share a passion for HR. In fact it would be totally uncool to lecture at all. I don’t want to be that person. I want to be the person that doesn’t try to be interesting, but interested. I want to be that person that is actually listening and not just waiting to talk.
So, I am going to think of a new strategy for small talk. And do the “lecturing and cheerleading” at a more suitable place like ….. here