Every year we do an employee engagement survey, and one of the questions that gets a relatively low response is the connections between reviews and actionable feedback. One of our managers took it upon himself to research better ways to do the review and goal setting cycle. He came across a design agency in San Francisco that was using UX methodologies (card sorting, sticker dot voting, cluster analysis) to help UX practitioners lay out their plans and goals. This seemed like such a logical step that we set up time with our SVP and VP of HR to discuss using it more broadly.
After laying out our plan and vision and advocating strenuously for the change our SVP asked us a simple question. "What do you think the goals are for Performance Management?"
We rattled off the standard text book answers, which got us a take-off-the-glasses-eye-rub and a disappointed head shake. After voicing his sorrow in our rote response, this is what he imparted.
Performance management comes down to three basic (but not simple) things:
- People want to know that they're building a Cathedral; not just breaking rocks
- People want to know that they have a manager that cares about them personally
- People want to know that they acquiring skills that will help the be more employable in the future.
So lets' break that down:
1. Building Cathedrals, not breaking rocks: The phrase comes from a parable about three labors in a quarry. The first is asked what he is doing and he replies that he's breaking big rocks into little rocks. The second is asked what he's doing and he replies that he's making money to feed his family. The third is asked what he's doing and he replies that he is building a cathedral. People want to be engaged and passionate about their work. As leaders, it's up to us to paint the picture of future to which they are contributing, so that the monotonous or repetitive tasks are there in service to a bigger purpose.[1]
2. Care and concern: From Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to Coaching for Achievement, there are numerous methodologies to help managers get more from their staff. Rypple (a social performance tool) held an interesting webinar to cover this topic [2]. Their conclusion, "People react and learn best when they are in a positive environment that fosters respect, consistency, curiosity, and attentiveness. Being an encouraging coaching manager will create conditions that allow your employees to maximize their performance and potential, and develop both personally and professionally."
3. Acquiring skills: Most people want to advance and progress in their careers. This means that they want to work on tasks that enable them to develop marketable, valuable skills. This may or may not be expertise (see Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers [3]), but it needs to feel valuable and interesting.
This conversation has come up over and over again. Most recently in talking to a colleague that I have the privilege of mentoring. Her department is working on hiring and they were brainstorming things they could do to attract valuable talent. Using the three pillars as a mini-heuristic, we evaluated each idea:
- Blog by our CTO - Check. Helps with the cathedral and the skills
- Conference presentations - Check. Cathedral and skills again
- Logo schwag - Dubious. Might check the "cares" box, but then again...
- and so on...
Using these as a lens, we were able to focus on the ideas that would (most likely) matter and eliminate the ones that were off the mark.
Question: Do these ideas resonate with you? Do you have any other ideas or ideals that help guide your leadership approach?
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