Industry Research: Lions, Tigers, and Performance Reviews - Oh My!

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Alaskan Black Bears don’t smell very good. You would probably agree if you stood toe-to-toe with one, too.

I know what you’re thinking. How in the world did I get myself into a staring contest with a 400-pound black bear? Funny story. It all started when I got my first job. While my friends were flipping burgers and packing snow cones, I was braving the Alaskan wilderness, cleaning fish, and living my Bear Grylls fantasy.
 

In case you don’t know, Alaska has a LOT of trees. It was tough to see beyond the dense forest; it could easily hide a large animal. While cleaning the fish, I would play music to hopefully scare off any hungry critters that might want a bite of the fresh salmon. Genius plan, right? WRONG. The music ended up being the perfect mask for the rustling of the bear coming through the thicket of bushes. Before I knew it, he had his paws on the table, sniffing at the Salmon.

I did what anyone would do. I asked the bear if he wanted fries with that fish.

Ok, you got me. I was terrified. I took a few slow steps back from the table and, when I had some distance between us, bolted back to the lodge. I grabbed a gun, went back outside, and fired a few shots into the air. The sound was enough to scare the bear off, and I could go back to warily fileting my fish.

Now that you know how I got myself into such a predicament, let me walk you through what actually happens to us when we are face-to-face with a bear. Any training or education you thought you had about bear encounters and surviving in the wild goes right out the window. 

Your brain is flooded with Cortisol, the stress hormone, and adrenaline shoots to your heart. Your entire rational thinking process is hijacked and you go on autopilot. Enter: fight or flight.

The brain and body are preparing to do one of two things: duke it out or flee to safety. I think it’s pretty safe to say that a young boy, a fishing knife, and 40 dead salmon didn’t have much of a fighting chance against a massive bear. The only other option? RUN. And believe me, I think I could have beat Usain Bolt in a foot race.

Great story, right? But why would I tell you about my close encounter with a bear when I should be focused on performance management?

Let’s get down to it. Whether you are a manager or an employee, I doubt you’re thinking “oh man, performance reviews?! Yes!!! Best. Day. Ever.” For many employees, annual performance reviews feel like a life-or-death situation. Cortisol floods the brain and adrenaline shoots to the heart; blood pressure increases, and stress levels multiply as employees prepare for that fateful meeting with their manager.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve had at least one experience where, heading into an annual performance review, you weren’t sure if you were going to make it out of that room alive.

Unfortunately, this is true for almost everyone - similar to a bear encounter, our bodies and minds sense danger, and the fight or flight response takes over. When this happens, it inhibits employees’ ability to be creative, innovative, and energetic about their work.

Why? Why does traditional performance management make us squirm and the term “performance review” send chills down our spines?

Let’s explore a few scenarios
 

• Employees spend several hours preparing lists of their achievements, accomplishments, and projects to present with hopes of convincing their manager they’ve earned high ratings or an excellent review, only to learn that their manager doesn’t agree with their performance or doesn’t take the time to provide meaningful reviews.
• Employees are bracing themselves for a barrage of criticism, masked as feedback, with a list of 50+ areas they need to improve in so they can become the perfect employee…which doesn’t actually exist.
• Employees are worried about receiving an astronomical goal set for them by their manager that feels wildly out of their control and certainly unattainable.
• Employees are preparing to be let down. Maybe they’ve been told their compensation isn’t tied to their review, only to later learn that the reason they missed out on their bonus was because they missed the impossible target set by the manager or they scored lower than they had hoped. Maybe they DID have a great year, experienced personal and professional growth, achieved a lot of different things, but their manager is out of touch or just doesn’t care.

These examples are meant to be somewhat satirical, but, unfortunately, they hit a little too close to home for most of us.

It’s no wonder Gallup reports that only 14% of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews are inspiring. Or that 2 in 10 employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. After reading these stats, I’m not surprised that over the past two decades, we still have nearly 70% of the workforce not fully engaged in their work, and over 50% are just punching the clock to get through the day.

So what’s the solution? How do we fix this? Is it possible to reinvent performance management to be uplifting, inspiring, and engaging? The answer is yes. But, because 70% of the employee experience is directly tied to the employee-manager relationship, we need to understand what employees want, and more importantly, what they need.

The future of performance management can be drastically altered by making course corrections in these six areas:

1. Focus on Your People

Help them understand their impact and why what they are doing is important. Your employees want to be a part of something great. When they know how they make a difference in the bigger picture, their work has meaning.

2. Don’t Just Manage - Coach

Cheer your employees on, give them tips to be successful, and provide meaningful feedback. Ask them about their anxieties around a project, what they are doing well, and what they think they could do better. Then, listen.

3. Communicate Openly Often

Make sure you are having frequent, constructive conversations, whether it’s at the water cooler, in a weekly 1 on 1, or at formal performance review. Establishing open lines of communication fosters a relationship of mutual trust and respect.

4. Learn Their Strengths

Every employee is different; play to their strengths and help them work on their weaknesses. When you are an advocate for their strengths, then maybe (just maybe!) they will find that sweet spot where their talent and passion intersects.

5. Encourage Career Development

Whether they stick around forever or make a transition, help them think about their future and understand they have a path for growth. Facilitate opportunities to develop new skills, acknowledge career-defining moments, and emphasize the importance of looking ahead.

6. Take a Genuine Interest

Your employees have lives beyond the four walls of the office. Maybe they just had a new baby, they started rock climbing, or their partner got a new job. It will mean the world to them if you make an effort.

Great managers understand and implement all six mantras into their daily workflow. They understand that a positive relationship with their employee is the best motivation for a job well done. Rather than making your employees feel like they’re face-to-face with a bear, develop strong, healthy, and open relationships with them now so when it’s time for those hard conversations, they aren’t all that bad.

Dr. Bobby Low is a human performance psychologist who loves writing, speaking, and teaching people how to apply principles of psychology to become high performers. Dr. Low spends most of his time helping individuals perform their best in the sports and work domain. At Motivosity, he helps build technology that leverages the best human psychology to develop managers into better leaders and employees to be more motivated with meaningful experiences at work. Visit www.motivosity.com Follow @Motivosity