Friday Special: Performance Feedback - From the Other Side

Editor's Note:  Our Friday Special space, which has been recently "repurposed" now features guest posts from writers outside our regular team of contributors (interested? shoot me an email at [email protected]). For this Friday's installment, we are particularly pleased to bring you "Performance Feedback - From the Other Side" written by guest contributor Joe Rice.  The floor is yours, Joe!

I've been picking up on many performance management discussions lately.  This means it must be coming up on that time of year where, if you haven't received/given performance feedback yet, your company has a policy stating you must do so soon.  I'm cynical of such practice but, as someone who is still on the receiving end of performance management, I'll take what I can get.

Ann's recent post on the subject was particularly thought provoking.  I walked away thinking about why performance feedback is craved and why I think it has never been more important.

I think the reasons for performance feedback are well known: alignment, development, progression, etc.  But for many young professionals like me, the current economic environment is a crisis we do not want to waste.  What I mean is this: In good times it was easier to pass on performance discussions because pay increases were easier to come by and a looming new opportunity always seemed around the corner.  Everything was rosy, don't rock the boat!

That's not the case right now.  I have had to focus more inward and ask what am I learning at my company and how can I make the most of it to be well positioned when times improve.  If nothing else, I want to at least grow professionally even if the salary that accompanies that growth isn't great.  Bottom line: That feedback on how I am doing and where I can improve has never been more critical.

I'll admit that it's odd in a way - I'm basically asking to be kicked while I'm down - but it isn't serving me or the company to avoid it.  Further avoiding it erodes trust in the manager.  So, to all managers out there:  Heed my plea and give sincere, well-thought and constructive feedback to your people.  It's the compound interest for our careers.

Joe Rice does compensation and benefits work for Panera Bread Company.  He earned Bachelor degrees from Saint Louis University and holds a PHR certification.  Joe has a number of hobbies including a morning blog review over a few cups of coffee.

Comments

[Paul Hebert]

Joe - how many times have you read or heard, constant, consistent, timely, well thought out feedback is important? How many employee surveys and studies show employees WANT more conversations about performance - not just the single one done annually?

Yet it is still an issue.

In today's rocky economic climate, it is only natural employees would want to know what's going on. "How am I doing? Did something happen at the board meeting that I should know about to adjust what I'm doing so I don't get RIF'd?"

As you said, now more than ever, the uncertainty of the situation means as managers we need to bring some certainty into their lives - and that is done through good, consistent feedback.

But it should be done regardless of the business climate. I can only hope that because we need to do it more now, it becomes a habit that is continued into good times as well.

I liken the whole performance discussion with employees to how we guide children. We don't take a 18 month old and tell them to walk - leave and come back in a month and say "hmmm... you should pull up more on furniture, you should try to grab the edge and work down the coffee table" - then come back in a month and see how they're doing.

We hang with them, adjusting their moves (in real time - got to avoid those black eyes from hitting the furniture) - constant and consistent feedback is how we go from crawling to walking.

If you're a parent you know how often you provide feedback to your kids on their performance (something we forget to stop doing when they hit their teens) - it needs to apply to employees as well.

[Doug Sayed]

Well said Joe (and Paul). Anybody who knows anything about good management and performance management knows how important frequent, constructive and honest feedback is, but still very few managers actually do it.

Ironically, providing meaningful feedback costs nothing, isn't terribly time-consuming, and pay dividends to the manager providing it (better performance guidance should lead to better employee performance, and hence better manager performance), but yet quality performance feedback is still in short supply.

Great job Joe. Managers, please listen.

[Margaret O'Hanlon]

Joe, your thoughtfulness is just what managers need -- don't think this a one way street. If each person listens, there's a lot to learn. Thanks for reminding us of the human beings in the room.

[Ann Bares]

Joe:

Love this post, and I particularly appreciate your ability to articulate the perspective that we are prone to overlook: that of the young professionals for whom feedback is a critical piece of career development. As Margaret so wisely put it, thanks for reminding us of the human beings in this scenario.

Nice work!

[Joe]

Thanks Paul, Doug, and Margaret for the extra depth. Each of you had some thoughtful points. Ann, thanks for the forum, it's been fun hanging in the cafe.

[Becky Regan]

You're smart Joe, to recognize that times such as these provide additional opportunities to learn and grow exponentially in your career. Soliciting feedback from your manager will only serve to escalate your learning curve in these extraordinary times.

[Kris Dunn]

Joe - good to see your post. Pissed that you never joined FOT, but what can I say? Ann's stolen many, many talented pros from me in the past...

joking...

My sense is that the true barrier continues to be the skill sets in the managers we have. Can they coach? Can they give feedback? Do they avoid conflict? You'll only get the feedback if your company doesn't force managers to do SOMETHING, but makes them comfortable enough with their skills to actually enjoy the process.

Good post. Keep it coming.

KD

[Darcy Dees]

Joe - Thanks for reminding everyone about the importance of feedback. Offering feedback and helping our employees to grow and develop is an inexpensive way to continue investing in our employees during these down times.

Glad you came to the cafe today and hope to see more from you in the future!

[Derek Irvine, Globoforce]

In another of her posts, Ann cited research that said: "But evidence suggests that employees want -- even crave -- more feedback from their bosses, even if it is negative. 67% say that they get too little positive feedback and 51% say that they get too little constructive criticism from their bosses."

Like you say, people want and need this feedback. Even "constructive criticism" tells me that people are paying attention to and actually care about what I'm doing on the job and how well I'm doing it.

That's why we advocate strategic recognition as a powerful performance management tool. Strategically implemented, recognition encourages peers and managers to frequently and, critically, in a timely way acknowledge efforts and achievements that demonstrate the company values in contribution to strategic objectives.

These “recognition assessments” and kudos can then be used as a type of performance review on the strengths (John has been recognized repeatedly for innovation) and even weaknesses (but John has been recognized only once for teamwork) as potential areas of improvement. This presents a much more rounded view of an employee’s contributions of which managers may not even be aware.

Moreover, since such a strategic recognition program is deployed company-wide, data can be gathered and used to benchmark an individual’s performance and demonstration of values in their work against direct peers, team members, the division and even the company as a whole.

More on the problems with annual performance reviews here: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/2009/09/evaluating-performance-appraisals.html