What Performance Appraisal and Feedback Have in Common With Food
Many businesses fall into the trap of relying on performance appraisals as their sole means of trying to manage performance. They “save up” all of the good, bad, and challenging feedback for one big discussion once a year, and wonder why people are not motivated.
Think of managing performance in the same way you think of food. Having one massive meal once a year just doesn’t cut it. To be healthy you need regular small amounts of high quality food. Your food needs to be fresh, balanced and contain nutrients that you can use.
Feedback also is best when it is fresh and near the event. Feedback also needs to be balanced – people are neither all good nor all poor performers. Balance your feedback highlighting what went well as well as what could be done differently.
Finally, feedback needs to contain information that can be used. You need to include information that people can do something with – not just listen to. Platitudes don’t cut it. Nor do general fluff and guff. Give specific, relevant information and ideas on how to improve, and as a result, your feedback to your team members will move from junk food to nourishing.
Until next time
Ingrid Cliff
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We must’nt forget the most important thing here. Promoting feedback from those ‘doing the work / job’ We can learn a lot from listening, as opposed to instructing and expecting. YES, even in appraisals.
Those being appraised can sometimes provide us with the standards / budgets we need to set them, as well as the standards they can perform. This way they have ownership of the instructions, and the leader / boss wont have to keep a close eye on things as often.