Today’s workforce is totally different to the workforce of the 1980’s but lets re-assess and improve it!  When annual performance reviews were considered the progressive tool of the enlightened employer. In this fast-paced, information rich, highly demanding era of 2022, when employees are self-focussed and looking for a career path – not a job for life; employers need to concentrate on creating  great workplace culture to build their business and promote loyalty. 

Let's nor kill The Performance Review, (YET).

Frequently, people choose not to do their job to the best of their ability.  Why? Because they are disengaged.  They aren’t lit with passion for their role or the business.  They aren’t being led.

Leadership is a privilege, not an authority that comes with a title.  A true leader has purpose, direction and agility. Leaders need to inspire their teams to accept nothing but the best.  To inspire is to motivate; to motivate is to teach and guide; to teach and guide is to grow those around you.   Inspirational moments are when all these elements come together, and a person chooses to embrace the leadership message and work to be the best version of themselves. 

When leaders build a performance – driven culture, they empower the whole team.    Performance -driven cultures thrive on individuals who excel and are building the best version of themselves.  They know what outcomes need to be achieved for overall success and they nurture and protect the “DNA” of the team, ensuring self-accountability, team respect and trust.  Performance – driven cultures “exit” those who do not adopt the performance mindset – usually with the employee realising that they don’t want to commit to this high level of accountability, and therefore they aren’t the right fit for the role. 

Get it right, and this powerful team unit will create maximum impact and success for your business.

The traditional yardstick of measuring the performance of the team and its team members, via the annual performance review, is lazy outdated leadership and belongs back in the 1980s.  In this fast -paced world, we are living in, we need to invest into something more continuous, something more regular, such as daily/ weekly feedback which is meaningful in real time this ensures that the most effective and efficient practises and processes are followed. If they are not doing it correctly how can this be turned around quickly? This will improve instant gratification and everything being on demand; businesses are naïve if they believe that high performance individuals are going to hang around for the annual performance review.  They will be long gone.

People want to have regular connections this has the potential to foster great communication and collaboration. People want to be kept in the loop; they want a shared vision to guide them.  They want to be communicated with constantly and bought up to speed frequently and provided with feedback regularly.  This feedback should flow in both directions for it to ensure performance improvement. They want their performance assessed, regular intervals throughout the year on an ongoing basis, and not annually. They also need to know their skills are at their most effective; that efficient practises and processes are followed; and that they are well equipped for what you ask them to achieve.

So how does an engaged, culture-building business operate?

  • A daily connection ( regular check-ins to address challenges & realign expectations) with teams – and it doesn’t have to face-to-face in this tech-connected hybrid -workplace world.
  • Talk about the wins the team has achieved.
  • Talk about the success of team members, what have they learnt, what have they done and what has been the big win for them.
  • Keeping them constantly engaged, appreciated and included will help reduce staff turnover and creates a positive employer branding, allowing your business to thrive.
  • Accept and teach that learning is all about the snackable information, bite size pieces of data. Many of your team will have had long years of study to qualify, and now need a re-set.
  • Be open and aware to the new things happening every moment and inspire your team to have the thirst to keep abreast of it, to use it in the daily course of their work.
  • Team Members need to be accountable for their own learning. They need to set goals (near or short term goals) and keep a life-long learning Journal, so they keep focussed on the destination.
  • Encourage them to build their personal brand. Performance is not just hard skills: it’s also about the social skills, and the negotiation skills that are required in today’s business environment.
  • Self-evaluation employees need to assess their own performance on a regular basis. This helps to set what challenges  or opportunities are needed  to contribute to their own personal development, and further organisational growth.

What to look for in good performers

  • Self-awareness and ability to self-evaluate
  • Generous helping of good old “spunk and grit”
  • Good Values:
    • Honest
    • Considerate of the greater good
    • Controllable
    • Can work independently and not dependent upon anyone else and constant monitoring
  • Can be trusted to do the important work
    • Mental toughness to keep on going
    • Ability to put their shoulder into the work and battle through to a desired conclusion

Keep frequently connected to your teams, enriching their experience, be accessible, provide motivating leadership, mentoring and encouragement, and you’ll build a strong culture: a workplace where people will want to remain: a business that they are loyal to; ultimately delivering better business results.