On high performance - Performance appraisal

In the last post, we discussed how to achieve high performance with the right use of rewards. In this post, we will discuss coaching for high performance, with performance appraisals being a critical component. Performance appraisals have three purposes:

• Evaluate
• Develop
• Motivate

When receiving negative feedback, people tend to shut down (as a self-defense mechanism to protect self-esteem). So, it might be good to break Evaluation and Development into separate sessions.

Why are performance appraisals so difficult?

• Cognitive biases on both sides makes it difficult to reach a shared understanding
• Fundamental attribution error
• We attribute success to our abilities/motivation/hard work etc., and attribute failures to the team, the environment etc. AND at the same time, 
• We attribute others' success to their team, their environment, support from company, while we attribute their failures to their lack of ability, hard work etc. 
• What to do about this?
• Be aware of this bias, especially when communicating evaluation.
• Make conversations more objective; collect objective metrics in preparation for feedback. 
• Illusion of transparency
• We think we are more transparent than we usually are. We assume/expect others to know, even when they really do not. 
• Especially happens when experts talk to non-experts; the curse of knowledge. The knowledge-gap is so great that it takes active effort to bridge. 
• Elizabeth Newton's experiment on guessing the song from a tune. 50% thought others would predict the song, while only 2.5% actually did. 
• What to do about this?
• Listen actively to what the other person is saying.
• Ask questions. 
• Ask the other person to repeat to make sure they understand.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Rosenthal and Jacobson's experiment with school children. When people thought some students selected randomly were gifted, they actually performed better. 
• If we believe someone will be successful, they will be. If we believe they will fail, they will.
• Why? We invest time and effort if we believe. 
• What to do about this?
• Focus on strengths and unique skills, and develop them.
• Reserve negative judgement, especially when not enough data points. 

What are the dangers of not doing appraisals?

• People who need feedback, do not get it.
• Leads to incongruity of expectations.

Here's a good checklist for performance appraisals:

• Don't wait to provide feedback. Give feedback as close to the issue as possible. 
• Focus on behaviors, not on personality. Calling someone lazy is not useful, identify when they have missed some deadlines etc. 
• Focus on few key behaviors. When there's a laundry list, it's hard to improve on everything all at once. 
• Be very specific about the changes you want. Do not sandwich or sugarcoat. 
• Make sure the other person understands you accurately. 
• Follow up with positive reinforcement, when the other person is responding favorably. 

How often should feedback happen?

• As often as needed! Don't wait for an entire year to provide feedback. 
• Actively seek feedback! 
• When leaders seek feedback, they are seen as being more creative, open, caring. 
• Not seen as weak or vulnerable, like we usually assume. 
• Helps get more accurate picture of how others perceive us. 
• Do not seek affirmation; it reduces perception of effectiveness of the exercise (and remember, this becomes self-fulfilling). Be open to critical feedback.