How Culturro Developed Effective Performance Reviews – A Lookback

How Culturro Developed Effective Performance Reviews – A Lookback

Performance management – is often a dreaded phrase, and not without valid reasons to back that fear. We often conflate performance reviews with appraisals because that is how the world shaped things over the years. Yet, new waves of change are taking a different approach – demarking performance management, performance reviews, and appraisals as distinct but complementary areas. Culturro’s path toward the present scope and mode of performance management and reviews has also evolved. As we usher in another change, and quite a major one, to mark an essential milestone in the organization’s journey, let’s look back at everything that has shaped us so far. 

Personal Experience with Performance Reviews 

My initial encounter with the so-called evil of performance reviews happened at my first job. The process and outcomes were underwhelming and unhelpful. But, it also proved to be a significant learning experience. Performance reviews at my organization were closely tied with appraisals and thus followed an annual cycle. When performance reviews are conducted once a year, we miss a lot. Neither the team member nor the manager can address the entire timespan effectively; a level of recency bias is bound to enter the conversation. But that’s not all the trouble. 

What was amiss?

Annual performance reviews that relied on metrics set by the organization became a unidirectional process, where the manager rated employee performance and added their remarks as deemed relevant. Quite a few essential elements were missing: 
  • Little actionable feedback was provided to aid improvement. I had mixed feelings and no idea where to proceed.
  • Even if feedback was added, it would be assessed one year later! The lack of regular checks and real-time support was disappointing.
  • The process missed some areas and covered some. Annual reviews mean multiple projects, skill sets, and activities – all of which can merit more time for assessment and development.

What was needed?

As I moved on from this team to another, and as things progressed. A few things became clear. First, performance reviews cannot merely be the basis of compensation. There’s more to it, especially for performance management. Tying up reviews and compensation together created awkward situations for the HR functions of organizations.  Second, performance reviews and discussions should go both ways. After all, what’s the point if I cannot ask questions and get support? Managers needed to redesign reviews as a holistic program focusing on performance management and improvement.  A recent McKinsey Global Survey revealed that many employees feel their organizations’ current systems and practices have no effect—or even a negative one—on company performance. The sentiment is, thus, echoed widely and needs action. 

Culturro’s Journey

Culturro started as a small team of fewer than five people, with some contributing across multiple domains and taking on varied roles. Performance management, thus, was heavily dependent on individual effort. Over time, the system indeed and unsurprisingly gave up owing to the inconsistency. Yet, this was where things began to take shape – with a realization that performance management matters for every team. 

Starting the Reviews Game

Over the next few years, performance reviews took a different avatar, focusing on one-on-one catch-ups between team managers and members. It was a monthly exercise where we discussed what was happening and how to improve it. We concentrate on mutual feedback and understanding things from all perspectives.  On top of this came annual performance appraisals through discussions over the year and highlights on the primary hits and misses. One thing was missing, though – the numbers. While one-on-ones went on with great consistency across the team, much of it was undocumented and informal. Thus, we missed a chunk of the matter from our discussions. And so, we went ahead and switched things up! 

Building Method into the Madness 

As the last quarter closed, we introduced performance reviews for the team. In our new approach, self-assessments and manager assessments of critical tasks and activities guide the review discussions. We ask questions about challenges, learnings, and development opportunities and create a structure that further guides our efforts to manage and improve performance. Moreover, the discussions are shaped as two-way conversations, where the team members also offer feedback and suggestions to their managers. 

Learnings and the Way Forward for Effective Performance Reviews at Culturro

While constantly making changes and incorporating ideas to create a holistic performance management system, we have understood the need to overcome conventional beliefs. Performance management need not merely be a checklist exercise that causes dread in employees. Instead, it can be the most exciting part of someone’s growth and development. 

Utility of performance reviews 

What role do performance reviews play in your team? That’s a question worth pondering for every manager. Are they merely tracking how much additional compensation to pay or adding some value to your team’s performance and development? Reshaping performance reviews into discussions that focus on growth through mutual feedback is the key to getting things right in the new employment era – where individuals know what matters to them and value development opportunities highly before choosing a workplace. 

Holistic understanding of performance – the good, bad, and the ugly 

Feedback on performance need not be all good to motivate or encourage someone per se. Instead, it needs to be realistic and helpful. Picking the right scale to evaluate performance feedback is essential. If the rating is good vs bad, then crucial areas such as timeliness and helpfulness are missed.  It calls for managers to be open and authentic as well as supportive. While providing critical feedback can be daunting, recognizing its value in the longer run of things helps. Intelligent techniques like a sandwich feedback technique would help you as well. The key lies in presenting all sides of the picture – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and enabling improvement. 

Reviews and Appraisals – a match made in?

Well, we know what we think about this. It’s a match that often causes trouble, so why not separate the two? Building direct connections between performance and compensation leads to performance anxiety in team members. That’s not where the issue ends; such links have led to unhealthy working habits that harm in the long run, such as working overtime, overlooking quality checks to produce quantity, and employees overburdening themselves. All in all, it’s a recipe for a lack of psychological safety at work.  To beat this trouble, organizations can decouple compensation and performance. Instead, rely on set metrics, enable a match of expectations, and develop employees who are able as well as willing to go above and beyond. 

Getting the frequency right 

With Culturro, I understood that monthly cycles were a tad too short to focus on long-term objectives. Things like developing a skill or building a new product feature extend a month frequently. While we can check the progress, it’s too quick for a review. Annual or six-month cycles, on the other hand, are heavily prone to availability and recency biases. Thus, the sweet spot of performance reviews lies in a quarterly cadence. It gives enough time to work on crucial areas, allows for quick recall and real-time feedback, and ensures we are not glossing over critical areas.

Incorporating frameworks 

Conversations that build empathy with team members are great. Documented conversations that allow you to track and measure performance are even better. Goal-setting frameworks like SMART goals and OKRs are great ways to ensure this. SMART goals offer clarity. Picture this: 
  • We need to increase website traffic. Vs 
  • We aim to take website traffic from X to Y over the next quarter. 
Clear goals with relevant metrics to measure them are essential to effective performance reviews. OKRs add to it by ensuring accountability and ownership over several areas and tasks. Building such frameworks into the review process can simplify your journey. Moreover, as fairness is a critical factor in ensuring the effectiveness of performance reviews, using frameworks that help visualize the bigger picture, offer transparency, and set standards is essential.

Conclusion 

Performance management is one of the most crucial areas for managers and HR leaders. Yet, several opinions and debates take over this matter and leave organizations hapless. At the turn of a new age of employment, with the entry of the Gen-Z into the workforce in a post-pandemic world, recognizing the value that effective performance reviews can have is critical for success. The key to excelling lies in letting go of unhelpful conventions and instead creating a system that suits your needs. With more team structure and composition variety, it’s only the beginning of customized employee solutions in all areas. 

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8 Manager Mistakes That Will Make The Team Members Quit

8 Proven Manager Mistakes That Will Make The Team Quit Their Job

Managers are essential in any organization and play a vital role in the success of that organization. However, because they have so much power, managers often misuse that power in ways that cause their employees to resign. There may also be times when there is no misuse of power, but a lack of optimum use can push employees over the edge. Employees may decide to leave the organization for a myriad of reasons. But, research shows that managers have a significant role to play when it comes to employees quitting their job. Two-thirds of employees feel that their bosses lack proper managerial training as per the same research. So, what mistakes are managers making? This blog post will discuss the eight significant mistakes that managers make that may lead employees to resign and how managers can avoid making them. By understanding these mistakes and learning how to prevent them, managers can help keep their team happy, loyal, and productive.

The 8 Major Mistakes Of Managers That Cause Employees to Quit

A few things can lead employees to resign from their job. It could be something that the employee perceives as unreasonable or unfair or simply too much pressure and stress. However, managers make specific mistakes that can cause even passionate employees to abandon ship. This blog post will discuss eight of the most common management mistakes and how they can impact an employee’s decision to leave their job.

Failure to provide a safe and healthy work environment

Many employees fear coming forward with complaints about unsafe or unhealthy working conditions, fearing reprisal from their manager. However, providing a safe and healthy work environment is not only the moral responsibility of the manager, but it is also in the best interests of the employee. If an employee does not feel safe and healthy at work, they are less likely to be productive, harming the team’s objectives. It can lead to low levels of job satisfaction and burnout, ultimately resulting in a turnover. On the other hand, if the manager does provide a safe and healthy work environment, the employees will be more enthusiastic about the job. This enthusiasm will foster loyalty and team cohesion among employees and reduce the risk of conflicts, ultimately leading to a dismissal. Therefore, a manager should aim to provide a safe and healthy work environment to improve employee morale while discouraging attrition. They should also ensure an optimum work-life balance for team members, reinforcing loyalty and encouraging retention.

Not providing clear goals and objectives

When it comes to employees, clarity over goals and objectives is one of the most important things you can provide. Without clarity on what their manager expects, it gets difficult for employees to feel invested in their work. Employees will then quickly lose motivation and feel discouraged. If managers do not communicate goals and objectives effectively, employees will not be able to connect their work with the larger purpose. As a result, it will just be another job and overtime engagement will drop. Additionally, employees may entirely give up on the task if goals are not attainable or too challenging to achieve. On the other hand, when managers provide clear goals and objectives, employees are more likely to have a sense of purpose. It means they will be less likely to give up on the task and feel more inclined to put in the effort. It can lead to a productive workplace culture, which prevents turnover and increases profits for the company.

Failing to provide feedback and recognition

Providing feedback and recognition to your employees is one of the most important things you can do to improve their morale. Employees need feedback and employee recognition to work effectively and efficiently. When done correctly, feedback and recognition can foster a strong working relationship that increases productivity. Withholding feedback or credit sends a clear message that your employees are not valued and that you do not respect their efforts. When managers fail to provide feedback and recognition, employees often feel silenced and unappreciated. It can lead to frustration, stress, and eventually quitting. Managers need to be proactive in providing feedback and verbal and nonverbal recognition to help their employees improve their skills and develop a sense of pride in their work.

Ignoring feedback from employees

Often, managers do not give much consideration to the feedback that comes from their employees. It may lead to organizational issues when managers fail to recognize and incorporate their employees’ suggestions. Employees feel appreciated when they know that managers are listening to them and their feedback is being taken seriously and is being implemented. Management should prioritize implementing feedback mechanisms that help employees feel engaged, heard, and acknowledged for their contributions. These mechanisms can give employees a space to express their concerns, receive and act on feedback promptly, and provide regular updates on their feedback progress. It will go a long way in building a positive relationship between employees and management and preventing them from quitting.

Not setting a clear timeline for tasks

There is a consensus that a timeline is critical for working. Without a timeline, it becomes challenging for each team member to prioritize and plan tasks. Practicing time management also gets difficult by not having proper timelines for completing tasks. It’s no secret that employees tend to quit when they feel like they’re not being given a clear timeline for their functions. And sadly, this is one of the most common reasons employees leave their jobs. By establishing a timeline for your tasks and sharing it with your employees, you will help them stay motivated and on track. It will help them finish their tasks on time, ensuring that their work is of the highest quality.

Failing to invest in employee development

High levels of employee engagement are the key to a thriving team. But what many managers don’t realize is that employee development is one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve this. If managers don’t invest in employee development, it can result in each team member feeling disengaged, undervalued, and ultimately frustrated with their work. They realize that the manager is not invested in their overall growth and development. If you want your employees to stay with you for the long haul, you must invest in their development. Excellent employees lead to a reduced workload for you, but they also tend to stay with your organization for more extended periods and bring another valuable skill set. As such, it’s essential to invest in employee development if you want to keep your talented team on your side.

Making assumptions about workers’ abilities without getting to know them first

A prevalent mistake that managers make is making assumptions about the abilities of their employees without getting to know them first. It’s not hard to see how this type of thinking could lead to disaster, as it often results in employees feeling unsupported and misunderstood. It often leads to frustration, as employees are not given a chance to prove themselves. Managers need to be understanding and patient when assessing an employee’s abilities. They should take the time to get to know their employees personally. It will help them better understand their strengths and weaknesses. They can then ensure that they give them the resources they need to succeed. An elaborate knowledge about employee abilities will also help managers provide effective delegation. This knowledge will empower them to delegate based on the full potential of their employees. Managers can help create a healthy working environment that encourages employees to stay with the company.

Overly Micromanaging employees

If you are a manager, you must learn to establish clear and consistent boundaries with your employees. Mostly an outcome of a lack of trust, micromanagement is a management style characterized by excessive control and tight deadlines. Practicing that in a management role is not at all recommended. If you find yourself micromanaging your employees more than necessary, it’s time to reign in your tendencies. Constant monitoring and control can be overwhelming, making employees feel constantly under pressure. It leads to disgruntled employees. It also makes it difficult to perform their duties to their best abilities. Further, it will likely cause them to become resentful and quit. Managers should be directive but should allow their employees some room to make their own decisions. By removing unnecessary micromanagement and allowing employees to work autonomously, managers will be able to maximize their productivity and create a more positive work environment.

Conclusion

It’s no secret that managers make mistakes that lead to employees leaving their jobs. This blog outlines the eight significant mistakes that managers most commonly commit and how managers can avoid making them. By avoiding these mistakes listed above, you can aim to become a better manager. You will be able to prevent any pitfalls within your management role. You can keep your team happy and motivated and ensure a smooth transition when employees decide to leave.

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