In the employee performance evaluation meeting you probably have the urge to do all the talking – to tell the employee what the evaluation document says (or worse yet, read the document to the employee). You tell the employee what you think of their performance. You tell the employee what you think they should do in the coming year. When you are talking, you feel in control. You don’t worry about the conversation turning bad as long as you have the floor, right?
And on the other side of the table, the employee begins to feel as if they have little control over what is happening to them. They may begin to shrink back, feeling as if their ideas and contributions are not important. They may begin to stew about what you are saying. Essentially, they feel pain.
Because performance management is something we do WITH employees, not TO employees, it is critical that the employee have an opportunity to contribute to the discussion. In fact one of the elements of a Painless Performance Evaluation is that the employee talks more than the supervisor during the performance evaluation meeting.
When you’re talking, you’re not listening and you’re not learning. It may be less painful for you, but it is certainly more painful for the employee. Effective leaders know how to keep quiet and encourage employees to contribute to the performance evaluation conversation by asking some simple questions:
- What was the best part of this year’s performance evaluation?
- What surprised you about this year’s evaluation?
- What pleases you most about working here?
- What accomplishments are you most proud of?
- What’s the best part of your job?
- What’s the most challenging part of your job?
- How can I help you feel more successful in your job?
- What do you need to feel excited about coming to work?
By using the majority of the performance evaluation conversation to find out what the employee is thinking about their work, you begin to learn about why the employee excels in some areas and struggles in others. You learn how to better support the employee. You also avoid causing them pain. And, performance evaluation pain is pain we don’t quickly forget.
