Stressed about Year End Reviews?
As I crossed the finish line on Labor Day for my very first half-marathon, I felt such pain...er, I mean pride. I did it--all 13.1 miles nonstop for a total time of 2 hours and 35 minutes! The 3 months of training 6 days per week, the check-ins from Coach Tony Rich of Events Horizon to monitor my progress and ensure he was adjusting my training accordingly all brought me to my personal moment of victory. I am no Olympian but wanted to run the race nonstop and make sure I was not the last one across the finish line. I am glad to say both goals were accomplished.
Looking back on the experience now, I wonder how I would have performed if I had just set the goal with my Coach and he only checked back in on race day to see if I completed the race. Without a doubt, I know I would have either failed or my performance and health would have been compromised.
As the end of year approaches, there is a frenzy among managers and their reportees as they begin dusting off performance plans and goals that were set last year to determine if those goals were accomplished. That's not only unfair to the employee but it is a disservice to the company.
Unfortunately, too many companies are still only doing annual appraisals, which increases tension in the department each end of year. Employees become anxious about what their manager will write in the evaluation, especially when it's tied to a bonus. It's also not unusual for employees to be surprised in an unpleasant way by the comments of the managers. People often have different perceptions and recollections of events even when examining the same situation and outcomes.
Executing a proper performance management process can alleviate the uncertainty and tension that is evident at the end of the year. Want to learn more? Join us for our upcoming webinar on October 13th on Keys to Effective Performance Management.
Karen Hinds is the Founder/CEO of Workplace Success Group, a strategic talent development firm that works with organizations to build and implement talent strategies that make it possible to develop and retain the next generation of leaders. www.workplacesuccess.com