Mintel hosts HashiCorp User Group Meetup #24

It is that time of year at Mintel where all employees have that formal encounter with their managers to discuss how well they’ve been doing. Our engineering team has a couple new managers who will be doing this for the very first time. This post is dedicated to them, and to anyone else who needs that bit of reassurance they’re handling performance reviews well.

Let’s be real — employees and managers both dislike having to do performance reviews. So why then, do we do these performance reviews?

At it’s best a performance review can be a tool to help realign an employee’s goals with those key to the company’s success. It provides a framework for the employee to reflect on how well they emulate the core company values. It helps them understand what is expected of them, whether they are doing well and how they can be more effective. It leaves the employee feeling like an integral part of the team. They have a clear understanding of where they fit in, and how they can help. They know what is expected of them and how to achieve that.

At its worst … your employee starts job hunting immediately after. The cliche goes “ people leave managers, not companies ”. So managers, listen up — the way you perform this review matters.

So as a manager, what should you know before going into a performance review?

1. Remember the goal — Helping your employee. The performance review is to help the employee understand where they fall in relation to what is expected of them and to be clear on what they can do differently. Keeping in mind that the objective is to help the employee should help you set the tone, find the right words and more easily navigate difficult conversations.

2. That the performance review is only ONE tool for supporting your employee. It actually works most effectively if you combine it with other tools. For example, keep detailed notes of what you discuss in your catchups — at performance review time, you will have many anecdotes that describe the persons true performance throughout the year and not be limited by recent events leading up to performance review time. It’s always easy to remember the negative stories so make sure you note down successes too.

3. No surprises — Never wait until the annual performance review to bring up performance concerns for the first time. Blindsiding your employee that way will limit how helpful the review actually turns out. Similarly, it is common practice to have employees rate themselves first, and then the manager rate them — share your rating with the employee before the actual meeting so that they can process it in private and be ready to discuss it in the formal discussion. You can even share some tips for what to expect during the discussion.

4. No expectations surprises either — It’s not fair to assess someone on criterion they weren’t aware they would be assessed on. Well prior to any performance review, perhaps even in a regular cadence during the year, remind your employees of the competencies you expect them to demonstrate.

5. Alter your approach depending on your employee — Know your team member and what would be helpful to them, and what would just seem pedantic and upset them. For example, if you suspect your employee thinks higher of themselves than you think of them — don’t ask them to self-rate to then tear them down. Have the discussions first and set a rating together. This keeps the discussion more positive and useful. Tweak your approach for your employees so that the review will be most helpful for them.

6. Base the review on data, not opinion — 360 degree reviews are commonly used by managers as information used for performance reviews. Peer reviews are invaluable, but always remember they are just someone’s perspective and you need to validate that feedback. As much as possible, gather anecdotes to illustrate the person’s point. If you don’t agree with their perspective but still want to share it with the employee, make it clear that this is not something requiring action.

7. A note on goals — For goals to be useful, they need to be memorable (so around 5 max). For goals to be motivating, they need to be perceived to be valuable and not made up to fill the form. For goals to actually be accomplished, they need to be regularly discussed and adjusted.

8. Please be authentic — Sometimes people deliver bad news sandwiched in good. The theory is that this makes the bad news easier to swallow. But we all know this doesn’t work for us, we hone in on the bad and ignore the good, so why would we try this on our employees? Don’t confuse your employee. Know what message you want to leave them with. Give them specific advice and targeted praise.

9. And because it is so important, I will say it again — Remember that you want to leave your employee feeling inspired and motivated; clear on what they need to do and confident they can accomplish it. You need to put in the time and effort so that you and your employee are on the same page on what they need to improve and be available to support them through the process. Discuss the past, but keep your eyes on the future.