Performance
Reviews
Without the Anxiety
A
manager in Belgium eases employees' tension by
giving advice and feedback throughout the year.
No
one on Philippe Lescornez' team of grocery sales specialists
goes into a performance evaluation expecting any big news.
If the manager has something important to say, he will
just say it, rather than wait for a formal feedback session.
While for other workgroups, the yearly or semi-annual
appraisals can be anxiety-laden confrontations between
an employee and a company's official representative, Lescornez
approaches them as an opportunity to summarize and commit
to paper hundreds of discussions that have occurred along
the way.
The
veteran manager's team scores him among the top 20% of
supervisors worldwide on the Eleventh Element of Great
Managing, which is measured by the statement: "In
the last six months, someone at work has talked to me
about my progress." (See "The 12 Elements of
Great Managing" at the end of this article.) Lescornez
is considered one of the best mentors in his company and
was recently recognized with its "Line Manager Excellence"
award for Europe.
How
could a manager who doesn't make a big deal of such a
traditionally important responsibility be considered the
epitome of a statement that many think has "performance
appraisals" written all over it? It's because receiving
regular, insightful, personal feedback -- rather than
a boilerplate review -- is intensely powerful to workers.
Lescornez understands the difference.
The
Importance of Everyday Discussions
While
Lescornez' evaluations are more pro forma than formal,
his everyday discussions with his team are challenging
and invigorating. No one is left guessing how he or she
is doing.
"The
most important part (of discussing progress) was the informal
part during the year, because [Lescornez] always kept
us motivated," says former team member Hulya Hoke.
"He was always giving us objectives and challenging
us. He did it during the whole year and not only in the
formal part of the evaluation -- not only on paper, but
continuously." His investment in his employees' careers
is the centerpiece of their high engagement and performance.
Lescornez
and his team work for Masterfoods in Brussels. This division
of Mars, Incorporated sells snacks, dog and cat food,
and human staples such as grains and sauces under such
familiar brands as Uncle Ben's rice, Snickers candy bars,
Dove ice cream, and Pedigree dog food. The team of "sales
promoters" is assigned to fan out across Belgium
and Luxembourg, calling on grocery stores to ensure that
Masterfoods products arrive on schedule and get enough
prominence at the point of purchase. Product sales hinge
on two factors: availability and visibility. Those hired
are frequently young and ambitious. Sales promoters generally
work alone and many kilometers from company headquarters,
so the job requires strong personal motivation and can
be isolating.
Unless,
that is, one has a manager like Lescornez. "He always
calls his people in the car. He speaks with everybody
at least once a week, often more," says Karin De
Backer, a Masterfoods trade services manager and Lescornez'
supervisor. "When people move to his team, at the
beginning, they need to adapt because he phones them all
the time: 'How are things going? How are you? Everything
okay?'" New hires sometimes complain, "He's
always behind me," until they realize he calls because
he cares. "It's feedback, feedback, feedback all
the time," says De Backer.
Please
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the Anxiety.
Reprinted
from Gallup Management Journal |
Note
from Kevin
 Greetings!
I
don’t believe there is a management practice that
evokes a more negative response from managers than Performance
Reviews. Obviously this comes with exception, yet in large
part the majority of people in management positions would
rather schedule a visit to the dentist for a root canal
than perform a Performance Review!
The
paradox in this type of thinking (which is my concern)
is that the most important piece of communication your
people need is feedback on their performance. In addition
it’s critical to know that people will progressively
disengage from positive performance if they aren’t
getting the feedback they need, want and deserve. This
is one of the areas in which all organizations must embrace
a full shift in their management thinking.
Let’s
start here: if any of the people who work with you are
surprised with your feedback when it comes to their performance,
then you aren’t doing your job. I find that most
organizations subscribe to the traditional practices of
one, or maybe (if the employee is lucky) two Performance
Review sessions a year. For most, these sessions are less
than rewarding and result in feelings of anxiety, separation
and often resentment. Think about what it feels like to
be an employee who has worked hard all year completing
projects, and the reward he gets for that work is to sit
with his manager and hear what is missing or what he needs
to do to improve. No wonder neither party looks forward
to these sessions.
The
good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way,
and I would suggest/promise that done correctly, the Performance
Review process is the most valuable form of communication
in organizations today. In the article “Performance
Review Without the Anxiety,” you will learn the
"secret" to making this not only a rewarding
process for both parties but the most significant practice
you can engage in to improve performance. Without telling
you more now, I would be glad to offer the names and numbers
of organizations and their managers who are learning how
to do this the right way. They’ll be glad to show
you the light!
Life
is good...
KW
|
