Performance Reviews Shouldn’t Have Any Surprises

My daughter is learning to drive.

For reasons I’m still not entirely sure I can explain, at one point in what I’ll call a midlife-crisis moment, I bought a huge Jeep. And, of course, that is a vehicle my daughter is determined to drive at some point in her learning journey.

If you’ve ever taught one of your kids to drive, you know the experience. You’re trying to remain calm and encouraging while simultaneously gripping the door handle and pushing an imaginary brake pedal through the passenger-side floor.

It requires patience. A lot of patience.

And I can tell you this: giving feedback during a performance review is a whole lot easier than coaching your teenager through a left turn in a giant Jeep.

I’ve been thinking about feedback because we’re in performance appraisal season at GBMC HealthCare. We recently completed the self-appraisal process, and leaders and their direct reports should complete annual performance reviews by September 30.

I know these reviews aren’t necessarily anyone’s favorite activity.

Even the self-appraisal can feel uncomfortable. You have to honestly reflect on your performance, brag a little about the things you’ve done well, and acknowledge the areas where you could improve. Then there’s the actual review. For some people, it may feel like another task to check off the list. Others may walk into the conversation wondering whether their leader is about to pull out a year’s worth of things they did wrong.

But if we’re doing this correctly, there shouldn’t be any big surprises.

Feedback should be given early and often. When someone does something great, we should tell them. When someone needs coaching or isn’t meeting an expectation, we owe it to them to tell them that, too. We shouldn't save either conversation for an annual review.

The most useful feedback usually happens close to the moment, when we can learn from it, make an adjustment, or simply understand that what we did made a difference.

So, what is the annual performance review for?

I see it as an opportunity to pause.

Before I meet with my direct reports, I ask them to come prepared to talk about a few things: What are you most proud of accomplishing this year? Where do you think you can improve? Are there areas where you may not be meeting expectations?  How do you want to grow?  What goals do you have?

And then there’s one question that I think is especially important:

What can I do better to help you succeed?

That question matters to me because a performance review shouldn’t just be a leader evaluating an employee. It should be a conversation between two people who share responsibility for making the team successful.

I want to know how my direct reports are doing. I want to tell them what I appreciate about them and the strengths I see in their work. I want to talk through the areas where they want to grow and what support they need to get there. I want to hear their goals.

But I also want to know how I'm doing. As CEO, people don't always tell me what they really think, and I know I don't get better unless people are willing to be candid with me.

Am I communicating clearly? Am I giving them what they need to be successful? Is there something I could do differently? How can we work better together for the good of our team, our organization, and ultimately the people we serve?

I've had plenty of performance reviews over the years. Some were easy. Some weren't. I've certainly heard things I didn't want to hear in the moment. Looking back, though, the feedback that helped me grow the most wasn't always the feedback I enjoyed hearing. It was the honest feedback from people who cared enough to tell me what I needed to hear. That's why I think leaders have to be willing to ask for feedback, too. The goal isn't just to evaluate performance. It's to learn, grow, and get better together.

The best leaders I've worked with weren't the ones who always had the answers. They were the ones who listened, used the strengths of the people around them, and adjusted when they realized they could do something better. None of us gets that right all the time. I certainly don't. But we all get better when people feel comfortable speaking honestly and when we are willing to listen.

So, as we complete performance reviews over the next several weeks, I’d encourage leaders not to think of them as paperwork that needs to be finished by September 30. And for everyone receiving a review, I hope you won’t think of it as a report card.

Use the time.

Talk about what went well. Talk honestly about what didn’t. Celebrate accomplishments. Identify opportunities to grow. Set some goals. And ask each other what you can do differently to make the other person more successful.

Those are conversations worth having.

And compared with teaching your teenager to make a left turn in a giant Jeep while you pretend you're not terrified? A piece of cake...