With summer over and kids back in school, many HR professionals are gearing up for end-of-year discussions. In some organizations, these are loosely framed conversations that are largely based on justifying a year-end bonus (or lack of one). In others, they are rigorously organized and tracked – so much so that managers sometime dread them.
While we at The Employee Engagement Group emphasize the need for more regular dialogue and feedback, we recognize that for many organizations the year-end conversation remains a standard means of reviewing performance and setting goals. In some ways, this makes sense; the year is poised to turn a new leaf, and with back-to-back holidays, it’s important to schedule in a session to touch base before it falls through the cracks. The question remains, how does one leverage the year-end conversation to maintain or boost engagement?
We have some tips that are drawn from our many years’ combined experience in learning what “shifts the from potential to performance.
You Get The Result You Measure. A key precept outlined in The Employee Engagement Group’s founder Bob Kelleher’s very first book, Louder Than Words, is that engagement isn’t some rare beast of an organizational issue that must be approached differently than any other. You wouldn’t set a fiscal target and then leave it to languish without metrics and checkpoints; engagement is exactly the same. Employees can’t improve, let alone excel, if they aren’t aware of the larger picture. During your year-end conversations, let employees know exactly how their role and their efforts fit into the organization’s strategic goals. Do your due diligence beforehand and arrive equipped with data points that illustrate where performance has improved, leveled off, or fallen (especially if your organization uses a year-end scoring system). Be prepared for a dialogue about where change may be necessary to boost engagement.
When in Doubt, “Overcommunicate.” I place quotes around that last word because in an office environment – especially a larger one – it’s not really possible to communicate too frequently. There’s a reason Bob calls communication is “the cornerstone of an engaged culture.” Leaders need to use whatever vehicles are available to transmit objectives and goals, whether that’s weekly meetings, social media, or yes… year-end conversations. In the latter case, it’s vital to keep the tone of the meeting appropriate. If there is a performance issue, define it clearly and dispassionately and focus on why the solution is important – not just for the employee’s future, but because of how the issue may be affecting the team, department, or organization as a whole.
Consider Putting Your Eggs in More Than One Basket. Following on the above point, I think that one reason end-of-year conversations aren’t appealing to many managers is that they simply aren’t comfortable giving feedback. I think we all know that ideally, nothing that’s covered in a performance evaluation should come as a surprise. It’s your responsibility as a leader of people to overcome what might be an instinctive dislike of bad news or corrective feedback, and for many of us, that means doing it more regularly rather than “saving it up” for November or December. If this sounds familiar, consider scheduling conversations quarterly at a minimum, with less formal check-ins along the way. This is especially important if your direct reports are Millennials; more than any other generation in the workplace, feedback is an engagement driver for the younger cohort.
Practice Empathy. A big issue for the Employee Engagement Group in the last couple of years has been widening the lens through which we view engagement. Traditionally, the closest we’ve gotten to engaging the whole employee is the old standard of work/life balance. But what does that really mean? As Bob’s latest book I-Engage explores, it involves recognizing that challenges at home can affect engagement just as much as difficulties with a task, a manager, or a thankless job. We already know how important empathetic management is to employees – the work of the Emotional Intelligence Consortium has several fascinating studies exploring just this fact. How to best model empathy in a performance discussion? Ask the right questions… and then listen. Even if you disagree, try to maintain a nonjudgmental attitude and once again, remain focused on outcomes. The trust you build will pay dividends all year long.
