Hiring doesn’t just mean having employees who are excited about your company’s impact-focused vision. You have to nurture those relationships, like any other relationship, if you want long-term team members who are ready to contribute to your company’s success.
Here are 3 questions to ask yourself before you do a performance review:
- Have you made your expectations clear? One of the things I see leaders doing over and over, especially if they are new to having employees, is to not make it super clear: this is what I want and this is why the business needs it. It’s a pitfall that even more experienced entrepreneurs fall into. The flipside is getting too detailed, so let your employees find their own way with ‘how’ as much as possible while you focus on providing them with the bigger picture ‘what’.
- How have you given feedback in the past? Has it been a breeze-by, looks-like-you-know-what-you’re-doing abdication of the responsibility to provide real and valuable feedback? Maybe you’ve been afraid to have these conversations. I sure was when I started my first business. If so, now’s your chance to remedy that.
- What’s your goal in providing this feedback? Decide what you want to get out of this meeting, for you and for your company.
Here are my 5 keys to a successful and valuable performance review for you both:
- Be honest. Provide both positive and negative feedback – make it a balance as much as their performance allows. If their performance is mostly positive, the balance of your comments should reflect that: 4 positive affirmations of their work and 1 way they can improve, for example.
- Be clear. Don’t waffle trying to be nice. Be kind, but let them know how you are viewing their performance in the clearest and most direct way you can. They deserve that respect.
- Be specific. Make your review substantive, reflecting feedback on their job role, what they are expected to do. Provide examples, so they can use those as models for future performance.
- Make it a conversation. A performance review isn’t just about you telling them. Ask questions. Engage them in discussion about how they see things. Be willing to really listen. You’ll more readily learn about the obstacles standing in the way of their performance, which means you’ll learn things about your company and what it’s like to work here.
- Be impactful. Build people up. This is not an opportunity to run anyone down, even if you’re annoyed, irritated, or angry. You’re relationship-building, remember? Here’s an opportunity for real impact, on a personal level.
Stop starting your performance reviews with the meeting. The performance review starts with the relationship.
Love,
