One of the most difficult tasks for any leader is conducting employee performance reviews. 

When you have to share information that indicates their performance is less than stellar, most of us want to avoid these conversations, or at least rush through them as quickly as possible.

These discussions are another example of  where communication skills can impact the outcome of the conversation.  We spend more time preparing for a board meeting, a client meeting or even, at times, writing emails, so why don’t we invest time preparing for this all-important business communication activity of conducting performance reviews? I suspect it’s because we don’t know how to do them effectively, how to share information we suspect won’t be well received, and maybe we don’t believe anything will change regardless of what we say so we view it as a time suck with limited upside value. I’m not going to discuss this last point, your possible beliefs, as that’s a topic for another post.

Today I want to discuss the perfect balance in conducting performance reviews. I’m not talking about the balance of sharing “Here’s where you did great and here’s where you need to improve.” I have my own thoughts on this method, but for now I’ll keep them to myself. By perfect balance I mean we first have to recognize that a performance review is a business communication, just like any other interaction. Unless we see it this way, our approach will be slipshod, ineffective or downright awful.

Once you take this step, the next consideration is to determine your goal or objective for the conversation. While HR may mandate the necessity of this meeting, it’s up to you to determine what you want to accomplish. What I have noticed with most of my clients is they attempt to soften the blow if it’s “bad news” by telling them what they did well, sandwiching in “here’s where you need to improve” before ending with a “good job” comment. No chance the employee got the true message you wanted them to hear.

If you have a “you’re not doing that great” performance review to conduct, be authentic, be honest and be clear about your objective. Do you want them to change and if so, what specifically do you want changed? Is there a question about their long-term upward mobility? Maybe you want them to know you are really pleased and here are some areas of development if they want to move ahead.

The balance comes with being authentic, honest and clear about your message and objective, along with listening to their thoughts and beliefs.   Conducting performance reviews doesn’t have to make you want to run and hide if you recognize it’s just another form of business communication that takes practice and patience.

Good communicators aren’t born, they are developed.  How well do you communicate?  What is your communication style?  Find out by clicking the link below and taking our Communication Quiz.  

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