Industry Research: START, STOP, KEEP-GOING

A Framework for Transforming How Your Managers Deliver Feedback

Performance management continues to evolve, especially now in the wake of a global pandemic. One of the biggest trends has been the shift from once-a-year review meetings to ongoing and timely feedback and coaching sessions with employees. But are managers ready to deliver? 

Before companies unveil a mandate for frequent feedback, it's important to consider that many managers are not innately equipped with the skills needed to deliver valuable and balanced feedback to employees. Giving good feedback is tough. But fear not, we have found an excellent tool to help. 
 

One of the most effective ways to guide managers in giving clear, constructive, and honest feedback is the START, STOP, KEEP-GOING framework. Its simplicity is what makes it so beautiful, and it is one of the best tools for framing performance discussions across the organization.

We don't have an official definition, nor can we trace where it originated, but we first learned about it in Mark Effron's book 'One Page Talent Management.' It is used across many disciplines, from performance management to project assessments and even agile/scrum discussions. It is an easy action-oriented retrospective exercise designed to acknowledge employee success and drive improvements. It is sometimes called START, STOP, CONTINUE, or DO MORE, DO NOT CHANGE, DO LESS. 

This framework allows managers to frame discussions easily and communicate with employees about performance and development in a balanced way; the good, the bad, and the great:
It helps to:

• Align new or updated expectations and priorities.
• Discuss potential and performance improvements. 
• Celebrate accomplishments and successes.

Managers can apply this framework to discussions around overall performance, select goals or projects, and even behaviors. It can also be used to provide a framework for 360° peer evaluators.

Here's how to do it:

What should the employee begin doing or do more? This aspect of the framework identifies activities that and employee will do, do more, or start doing in the future. This section can also identify behaviors to develop that will help the employee succeed and may include goals or tasks that are coming or are ready to begin. It is an excellent way for managers to set the stage for something new and discuss what resources are available to help the employee excel.

What should the employee stop doing? This aspect of the framework looks backward and allows outlines behaviors or actions that did not work or contribute to the employee or the company's success. This feedback might also include updates to goals and tasks that were canceled or deferred. This more critical feedback is sandwiched nicely in the middle. Managers should outline clear examples and accounts of why things didn't work and be prepared to discuss with the employee.

What should the employee keep doing? This portion of the framework identifies behaviors or actions that worked and contributed to the employee's success or goal attainment. These elements should be continued and developed. This feedback is an opportunity to acknowledge success and reinforce the employee's behaviors and actions.

The beauty of this framework is that it can frame smaller check-ins, like weekly meetings or more in-depth discussions related to goals, career, and development. Many of our clients include these three comment boxes alongside competencies to assist managers in providing useful feedback on vital skills. Some clients have even replaced the traditional 360° 'rating' with these questions, to solicit more valuable peer input. 

Words of caution: 

The framework itself is straightforward, but it can be tempting to re-frame and repeat the same points in multiple sections. For instance: "Start: sending emails to the entire team. Stop: Forgetting to send emails to the entire team." Managers should re-read their points to ensure there isn't overlap. 

No framework can guard against bias. Managers will struggle to provide accurate feedback unless they pay attention and document behaviors and results. The best way to deliver feedback and explain the 'why' of the input is to support it with specific examples. We encourage managers to keep detailed notes and records of performance on an ongoing basis and reference these examples when providing employee feedback.

Overall, if you are looking for a simple but highly effective way to ensure your company's talent is getting balanced, action-oriented feedback, the START, STOP KEEP-GOING framework is a fantastic option. It is clear and easy to follow and sets the stage for highly effective feedback conversations and performance discussions between managers and employees. Who would have thought that three little comment boxes would be one of the best performance management tools?

Get started today! CRG emPerform offers easy-to-use, all-inclusive, and 100% flexible performance management software to help companies modernize and streamline performance management and engage employees in ongoing feedback and development discussions. Learn more at employee-performance.com 

Natalie Trudel is the Marketing Manager and lead author for the CRG emPerform Blog. With over ten years of experience in the talent management space, Natalie's posts offer practical advice on performance management, workforce management, and HR.