Precillia Redmond is the CEO of Maeve Consulting.
In a Leadership IQ survey about performance review, which had more than 48,000 respondents, only 13% of employees and managers said their organization’s appraisal system is useful. In many cases, employees felt unclear about their performance and annoyed by the time and effort required of them. Despite this widespread dissatisfaction, most companies continue to use the same, ineffective processes.
Annual reviews can feel like a survival-style competition, similar to The Hunger Games. No one wants to be there, and the stakes are significant. While employees aren’t competing against each other, they’re hoping to get through the process without facing obstacles like vague feedback or doubts about their value and prospects. Rewards may not fall from the sky like a basket of survival supplies, but desired outcomes like raises, promotions and recognition are highly sought after.
The good news? There are strategies to optimize the review process for everyone involved.
How The Review Game Is Played
Performance review processes vary. Larger companies often have the resources to conduct reviews within a dedicated platform that uses data from multiple feedback touchpoints. This makes it easier to build a streamlined, detailed process that everyone can easily follow. On the other hand, smaller companies often have to gather and discuss information using basic tools like Google Docs, generic online systems or even pen and paper. This is usually accompanied by a poorly detailed and/or implemented process.
Regardless of the company’s process, self-assessments can be an exercise in extremes. Some employees may assume their actions and performance throughout the year was obvious, so they write incredibly short reviews that provide no real value. Conversely, others feel they must document every single thing they’ve done, leading to extremely detailed and overwhelming reviews that make it difficult for managers to separate mere action from true, impactful work.
The Stakeholders In The Game
Much like The Hunger Games, there are certain roles and archetypes that people fall into during the review process:
• The Founder: Like Gamemaster Seneca Crane, this person designs the process and sets the rules. Unfortunately, this means they can change the rules midway through the process, forget the rules or make unfair exceptions.
• The Victor: Think of this employee as a Career Tribute from the wealthy District 1. They receive the most support and opportunities throughout the year, making them best equipped to win. This employee comes with ringing endorsements and a list of accomplishments.
• The Quiet Achiever: This colleague flies under the radar, hoping to be noticed but typically too humble to speak up. Similar to the late Rue from District 11, their impact would be undeniable if someone fully committed to honoring and advocating for them.
• The Feedback Rebel: The workplace Katniss Everdeen is skeptical of the entire performance management system, so their self-assessment is often short—or non-existent. They prefer to focus on actually applying feedback they’ve heard throughout the year, rather than discussing what they’ve done.
• The Mentor: HR leaders are like a combination of former champion-turned-mentor Haymitch Abernathy and the Capitol citizens who select the districts’ tributes. HR holds the reins of fairness, impact and employee well-being. Our goal is to help tributes survive the arena with clarity and their dignity intact—and maybe even a promotion under their belt.
How Leaders Shape The Game
Calibration meetings between leaders resemble a gathering of the tribute sponsors—if the gluttonous Capitol feast was replaced with a cup of coffee, whiteboard markers and sticky notes. Hours of leadership time is spent moving employees around the performance rating curve while pondering such questions as “Who really deserves a 4?” and “What did you mean when you rated this person ‘exceptional’?”
During this part of the process, leaders work to avoid their employees being left behind because the compensation pool is limited and must be divided among the entire workforce. There can be quite a lot of gamesmanship involved in awarding employees the spoils—raises, promotions or bonuses. In reality, making slight adjustments to performance scores rarely results in significant raises. Moreover, promoting an employee to a new title that comes without material changes in responsibilities or scope may not actually feel satisfying to the employee.
As in The Hunger Games, the more an employee curries favor with others, the more inclined leaders are to support their success. In the workplace, this idea translates to presence and visibility. When someone’s performance is highly visible, they’ll be celebrated and rewarded more often, which in turn creates more opportunities down the line.
How To Make The Review Game A Fair Competition
How can year-end reviews go from a game where only the fittest survive to one where everyone wins?
Create A Simple Framework
A straightforward, organized framework begins with your company’s philosophy on performance management. For example, some companies might focus on objectives and key results. Within this framework, goals are coordinated across different levels and progress is typically reviewed quarterly at the organizational level. This setup is ideal for fast-paced, growth-focused companies where strategic shifts happen frequently.
Alternatively, a culture of continuous performance enablement involves regular check-ins between managers and employees, fostering real-time feedback and a focus on growth and development. This suits agile environments where goals may be less quantifiable.
Regardless of your company philosophy, educate managers and employees on your chosen framework’s approach, timelines and expectations. Your HR team will play a leading role in this effort to facilitate a balanced approach.
Focus On The Conversation
Frame performance reviews as developmental check-ins and promote two-way dialogue to build trust, and ensure both employees and managers have an opportunity to give and receive feedback.
Self-assessments can reveal employees’ motivations. Consider giving employee prompts like:
• What goals did you meet?
• What are some opportunities for you to develop in your role?
• How have you demonstrated company values?
Train managers to deliver feedback with examples and ask open-ended questions (e.g., “What support do you need to grow in this area?”).
Turn Feedback Into Feedforward
Feedback is most effective when it emphasizes future-oriented action. Connect it to key development goals, then monitor progress through brief, regular one-on-ones. HR should review feedback to gain insights into how it’s being delivered and identify common themes for professional growth. Analyzing these themes can foster ongoing improvements in the performance process and inspire learning events that benefit the whole organization.
Performance reviews shouldn’t feel like a competition. They must be a well-organized quest for clarity, growth and valuable insights from the cornucopia of feedback.
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