Delivering Performance Feedback without Performance Evaluation Forms

In my November blog entry, I railed against the typical, formulaic performance evaluation.  So, if typical performance evaluation forms aren’t effective for communicating a manager’s desired performance from employees, then what is?

Simple . . . a little something I like to call, “communication”.  (Assuming you did a decent job of hiring a qualified, sane person for the job.)

I’m a big proponent of the adage a la Oprah that when “people know better, they do better”.  And for employees to know what “better” looks like, managers have to talk to them.  In turn, for managers to talk to employees, managers can’t be conflict avoidant (see December 2010 blog entry on conflict avoidance).  So here are some tips for giving performance feedback to your employees:

1.       Focus on an employee’s strengths.  If possible, assign employees to work on tasks and projects that will utilize their strengths.  For example, if an employee in your sales department isn’t that good at making conversation with people he doesn’t know, but has an eye for detail, send others out to interface with customers and use the detail-oriented employee to make sure the sales documents are in order after the sale has been made.  (I know . . . This suggestion is highly idealistic, but if you can, do it.)

2.       Make sure your expectations for the employee’s work are clear and actually told to the employee.  One of the biggest misconceptions managers have is that the employee SHOULD know what to do and how to do it.  Or that the employee interpreted the boss’s directions exactly how the boss intended them.  Wrong.  That’s why we have managers to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

3.       Talk to employees about their work daily, weekly, and monthly.  It’s a manager’s job to talk to employees about their work, whether things are going well or whether there are problems.   To do this, meet with employees at the outset of a new phase or project to clarify your expectations and to get their input; check in with the employee regularly on an on-going basis to see if changes are required; and after the work has been done debrief with the employee to help her reflect on what went right, what didn’t turn out so well, and what might be done in the future to achieve the best possible outcome.

4.       Put your observations about an employee’s work in writing.  Whether an employee excels at her work or whether the employee has shown a pattern of shoddy work, putting what occurred in writing and giving that letter or memo to the employee is the best way to document how well or how poorly the employee is doing.  Letters of commendation, letters of warning, and letters of reprimand should also be placed in the employee’s personnel file.

By following these actions, managers are able to create performance feedback that is more effective and timely than using the typical performance evaluation pre-fab form.