At Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada, the oft-dreaded performance review is seen as a good thing – from both sides.
According to a yearly in-house survey, employees rate the company’s bi-annual performance reviews very highly. That’s mainly because Deeley’s, the exclusive Canadian distributor for Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycles and parts, takes performance reviews seriously, not only as a measure of performance tied in with raises and promotions, but also as an important opportunity for employees to discuss their career paths.
“It’s formal because it’s a formalized process, but not necessarily tense,” says Mike Harwood, Deeley’s human resources director, from their Concord, Ont., office. “You set the right tone. You don’t just call people in and say we’re going to talk about your performance. It’s a scheduled meeting so the associate has time to prepare. Guaranteed, most do their homework.”
The company, which has about 150 employees in offices and distribution facilities located in Concord, and Richmond, B.C., was named as one of Canada’s Top Employers for 2011.
They run an annual review workshop for managers on performance management as well as other things directly related to the competency model they have in place around teamwork, leadership and job skill.
“We want to gauge progress throughout the year against identified goals so we have a performance management program that develops an individual performance agreement on an annual basis,” Mr. Harwood explains. “There are key deliverables the associate is accountable for each and every year. The starting point is that performance agreement.”
There are four basic questions that they begin with at both their mid- and full-year reviews, Mr. Harwood explains:
- How are you doing against the performance agreement?
- What challenges have you met with?
- What can I, as your manager, do to help you become successful with the goals and objectives?
- What else would you like to discuss? That’s the employee’s chance to talk about career plans and aspirations, strengths and development opportunities.
“Performance reviews shouldn’t just be a single event,” Mr. Harwood says. “It’s the compilation of all the discussions you have throughout the year, everything from team huddles, water cooler chats or casual sit-down meetings with your supervisor. The last thing you want is for a manager doing a review in March to say to an employee, ‘Last April you ticked me off when you did ‘x.’ You really need to fix that.’”
Mr. Harwood says many people are negative about performance reviews because in their history, it’s only ever been used to deliver bad news as opposed to what’s good about their performance. Alan Kearns, career coach and founder of Career Joy, believes that performance reviews should focus more on what’s working than what’s not.
“Let’s be honest – not everyone gets a lot of constructive positive feedback,” Mr. Kearns says. “We’re surrounded by critical analysis and negative headlines all day long. But while we have to be accurate, we also need to affirm the person.”
Mr. Kearns sees the manager’s role in a performance review as somewhat parental. As a parent himself, he often questions whether he’s saying something because he’s trying to punish his child or help them grow.
“I think that’s the way to frame it, criticism versus growth,” Mr. Kearns says. “You need to ask how you can help this person grow. If you head into it with that spirit and mindset, everything else in the conversation will reflect that. Even if it means determining that the person isn’t really a fit, it should still be about growth, not punishment.”
So how should a manager raise a delicate subject or deliver bad news in a performance review? Kate Hays, sports psychologist and founder of The Performing Edge consulting practice in Toronto, suggests rehearsing it.
