Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review

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Why Conduct a Mid Year Performance Review?

  • Most organizations set their objectives at the beginning of the year, but much can change in six months time.  You need to keep objectives aligned with business changes.
  • The Mid Year Performance Review acts as a formal “check in” with the employee.  If you are only formally reviewing performance at the end of the year, you run the risk of surprising the employee with a poor review.  A Mid Year Performance Review gives the employee the opportunity to take corrective action before the formal end of year review.
  • It can solidify the actions you need the employee to take for the balance of the year.  It is an excellent opportunity to clarify and review specific goals and actions to be achieved by the end of the year.

Steps to Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review

  1. Employee provides self-assessment. Employees should have as much responsibility in the performance review process as the supervisor does.  The best way to ensure this accountability is shared is to insist that the employee conducts his/her own self-assessment using the same criteria and format as the supervisor will to assess performance.  The differences between ratings provides a fertile ground for discussion.
  2. Manager collects performance data and feedback. The manager should use data wherever possible, and at the very least list specific behavioral examples.  To use vague or non-specific statements when assessing performance is neither professional, nor useful.
  3. Review assessment and write review. Review the employee’s self-assessment, and write your own review as to the employee’s performance.  Incorporate all the data and examples you gathered in step 2, above.
  4. Conduct the Mid-Year Performance Review discussion. After both employee and supervisor have done their preparation, they need to meet to formally discuss performance.

The Mid Year Performance Review Discussion

  • This is the most important aspect of the Mid Year Performance Review.
  • Conduct a quick retention interview along with the performance discussion.  For example, you may simply want to ask how the employee perceives his/her work environment, and how challenged and satisfied they feel working there.  Too often, organizations wait until the Exit Interview to gather this feedback.
  • The employee should be given the opportunity to describe their deliverables against each objective and other projects.  They should be able to articulate what they’ve done in the first half of the year, and how that has contributed to their stated goals and objectives.
  • During the Mid Year Performance Review meeting, discuss feedback grounded in multiple perspectives from the organization.  In other words, how are the efforts of this employee important to the larger organization.
  • Ensure that key priorities are clear, and alignment is obtained on balance of year objectives.  This is an opportunity for both the employee and the supervisor to discuss changes or “course corrections” to ensure the employee is successful for her end of year review.

Three Things to Remember about Mid Year Performance Reviews

  • This is a listening exercise for the supervisor.  Listen carefully to both the content and context of the message being delivered.
  • Be candid and balanced in your feedback. Both parties will get much more out of the discussion if they are honest and forthright with each other.  Being too polite will not drive performance.  Nor will berating and humiliating the employee.
  • Clarify how you will support the employee.  It is important for the supervisor to commit to what she will do to enable the success of the employee.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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The Mid Year Performance Review

Join Jed and Bob as they discuss why you’d bother with a Mid-Year review, and how it’s different than a regular Performance Review.  Also learn how to manage the mid-year performance review discussion to ensure it’s effective.

Watch ‘The Mid Year Performance Review’ Video (15 mins 17 sec):


Download the ‘Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review’ Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

Conducting a Mid Year Performance Review

Just about everyone hates performance reviews, so why would the Wily Manager guys suggest that they get done twice a year?  As it turns out, while they always require effort, they can be both effective and reasonably painless when done properly.  Join us this week to learn more.

Monday’s Tip: This is a listening exercise.  As a supervisor, if you find yourself doing most of the talking during a Mid Year Performance Review, you’re doing it wrong.  It should be a discussion, which requires good listening skills.

Tuesday’s Tip: Have the employee do a self-assessment. The employee should have some responsibility for this process as well.  The best way to ensure this, is to have them prepare to the same level that you, as the supervisor must.

Wednesday’s Tip: Do a “Retention Interview”. This is an opportunity to assess how likely your people may be to be leaving the organization.  Don’t wait until the exit interview to gather this feedback.

Thursday’s Tip: Use data and specific examples to assess performance. Don’t say, “this employee is lazy”.  You need to offer specific examples, and data where possible to support such statements.

Friday’s Tip: Be honest and forthright. Don’t degrade and disrespect an employee, but also don’t be too polite.  An honest and direct discussion will yield much better results.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Mick Jagger was right – you can’t always get what you want.

One of the dynamics that managers face is weighing off short-term objectives against longer term ones.  This sometimes results in seemingly poor decisions being made.

Often, I get to hear people in organizations complain about the seemingly silly decisions that are made.  It is so clear to them, that by investing $100,000, you can recover a $1m.  They’ve done the cost benefit analysis, and the answer is clear.  The only problem is that they haven’t figured whether there is $100,000 to spend in the first place.

Think of it like this:  If you replace the windows in house with better insulated ones, install high efficiency furnaces and air conditioners, and put new insulation in your attic, you will undoubtedly save thousands over the lifetime of those renovations.  However, you may not have the $25,000 required now to do those modifications.  Further, you may not be sure you’ll be in the house long enough to recover the investment.

It is the same for organizations.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve seen lots of examples of corporate stupidity, too.  My favorite one is the company that decreed in blood that all travel occurring within an operating division must be by surface, and that air travel was restricted to those going across operating divisions.  This made a lot of sense in Northern California, where the decree was issued.  It didn’t make a lot of sense in British Columbia (about twice the size of Texas, and full of mountains).  It turns out to drive from one side of this division to another was a four or five day exercise.  Surely a plane ticket would be cheaper?  Nope – the policy stands.  Truly stupid.

The dynamic of measuring the short term and long term costs and benefits is not easy.  Leaders need to do the math and figure out the right thing to do.  But sometimes, the right thing to do is deferred to what can be done.

You might not get what want, but rather “get what you need”.  Thanks Mick.

 

How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis

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What is a Cost Benefit Analysis

  • It is a tool used to more objectively assess:
    • the value of a solution or action
    • the comparison between alternative solutions or courses of action
  • For our purposes, it does not include detailed financial analysis

When to conduct a Cost Benefit Analysis

  • To determine feasibility of a solution or course of action
  • To compare alternative solutions or courses of action
  • When you are justifying a course of action
  • When you are requesting additional resources for something

How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis

  1. Determine the Costs
  2. Calculate the Benefits
  3. Compare Alternatives
  4. Report and Plan Action

Determine the Costs

  • You should first check to see if any analysis has already been done on your project or idea.  Perhaps there has already been some detailed costing work done.  If not, you will need to collect the cost numbers.
  • List out costs of your solution or course of action:
    • Initial or capital costs
    • Ongoing costs – what are the costs in the coming months or years?
    • Labor costs – how much time will your idea take from people?
    • Contractor costs – Are there external labor costs?
    • Supply or input costs
    • Non-monetary costs – what is the impact on safety, morale, reputation and other less tangible things.  You may not be able to assess a number to these things, but you should at least list them for consideration.

Calculate Benefits

The next step in the Cost Benefit Analysis is to estimate the benefits on all the same dimensions as you did for costs:

  • Dollar value of benefits:
    • Time (labor) saved
    • Supply (input) savings
    • Energy savings
  • Non-monetary benefits:
    • Safety, environmental
    • Reputational
    • Morale, turnover
    • Quality

You should consider the immediate, yearly, and ongoing benefits in your Cost Benefit Analysis.

Compare Alternatives

You now need to compare the costs and benefits from each of your alternatives.  If you only have one alternative, you are still comparing your option with the status quo.

  • Subtract costs from benefits for each alternative
  • First compare against doing nothing
  • Compare each alternative with each other
  • Take non-monetary into consideration

Below is a comparison table for a simple Cost Benefit Analysis.  In the last 4 rows, a dollar figure may be difficult to quantify, so you can put a description of the cost or benefit in each of these areas:

Status Quo Option 1 Option 2
Initial Costs
Ongoing Costs
Time Savings
Supply Savings
Energy Savings
Safety
Environmental
Reputational
Morale

Report and Plan Action for your Cost Benefit Analysis

  • Make a recommendation based on your Cost Benefit Analysis
  • Put together a brief plan of action for your recommendation.
  • Don’t forget about other influencing conditions.  Sometimes, you may have a compelling argument that still needs to be deferred for other reasons, such as:
    • Cash flow
    • Availability of resources
    • Competing priorities

3 Things to Remember About How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis:

  1. Non-monetary conditions may have a considerable influence.  Safety considerations, for example, may trump all other criteria in determining action
  2. The time-value of money must not be underestimated.  Many people forget that capital has a cost, and if your idea ties up dollars there is a direct cost to this.
  3. If it gets complicated, more detailed financial analysis may be more appropriate.  You may need to seek out a finance individual in your organization to assist with your analysis.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis

You don’t need a Masters Degree in Finance to do a Cost Benefit Analysis.  Join Jed and Bob as they talk about how to use this simple and effective tool.

Watch the ‘How to do a Cost Benefit Analysis’ Video (14 mins 25 sec):


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Doing a Cost Benefit Analysis

This week the Wily Manager guys are talking about how to do a Cost-Benefit Analysis.  This simple, yet effective tool can provide a sober second thought for decisions you make as a manager.

Monday’s Tip: Look at time, energy and input savings. People forget that time costs money, so make sure you calculate the labor savings of your idea, and calculate the value of that time saved.  (hours saved X $/hour)

Tuesday’s Tip: Don’t forget capital costs. Money costs money.  If your idea is going to tie up capital (or release capital) then calculate the value of that.

Wednesday’s Tip: Make a recommendation. It’s not good enough to simply do a cost benefit analysis.  Use your work to recommend a course of action and put together a short action plan to outline how it will happen.

Thursday’s Tip: Don’t forget about intangibles. You may be harder to put a dollar figure on such things as safety, environment, reputation or morale, but you should at least note the impact on these things in your cost benefit analysis.

Friday’s Tip: Ask for help if it gets complicated. We advocate a simple cost benefit analysis, but if it becomes complicated, you may need to reach out to a Finanace (or other) professional to assist.

 

How to Set Goals and Objectives

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Below we discuss the following aspects of How to Set Goals and Objectives:

  • Goals and Objectives in the larger context of Performance Management
  • Why managers should bother with Goals and Objectives
  • Three Steps on how to Set Goals and Objectives

How to Set Goals and Objectives in the Larger Context of Managing Performance:

Every organization should have an infrastructure for managing employee performance.  Below is a simple model that shows how to Set Goals and Objectives in a broader context:

Goals Versus Objectives:

There are many different definitions of “Goals” and “Objectives”.  Here is how we delineate the two:

  • Goals are higher level than objectives
  • Goals have longer time frames than objectives
  • Objectives are more specific than goals
  • Several objectives may contribute toward a single goal.

Why Bother to Set Goals and Objectives

  • To Set Goals and Objectives closes the gap between Strategy and Execution.  Goals and objectives are needed to translate high-level strategies into more manageable behaviours that need to occur on a daily basis.
  • Without well-written goals and objectives, evaluating performance becomes unnecessarily more difficult.  Goals and objectives translate into tangible actions that are observable and often measureable.
  • Setting Goals and Objectives drives focus and alignment through the organization.  When Goals and Objectives are clear, and cascade through an organization, alignment is assured.
  • By setting Goals and Objectives, you help define and drive performance.
  • Goals and Objectives clarify the employee’s priorities and allow them to allocate their time and resources effectively.

Cascading Goals and Objectives

When you set Goals and Objectives, you need to ensure alignment between different levels of the organization.  Starting at the most basic functions of a company, the Goals and Objectives must contribute or “roll up” to the Goals and Objectives of the next level up in the organization.  In situations where there are many layers, this alignment must be carried on until the very highest level of the organization.

Three Steps to Set Goals and Objectives:

  1. Align the organization’s and team goals.  Regardless of where you are in an organization’s hierarchy, you need to look above you, and ensure that you understand those higher-level goals, and ensure your goals will contribute to those.
  2. Draft your goals and objectives. After you’ve looked up the hierarchy, sit down with your team and draft your team objectives, and personal goals and objectives accordingly.
  3. Meet to discuss and finalize. You need to meet with your boss to discuss and finalize your Goals and Objectives.  You then need to meet with your team to ensure that all Goals and Objectives are fully aligned.

Drafting Clear Goals and Objectives

The SMART acronym is instructional when refining Goals and Objectives:

  • Specific: Well written Goals and Objectives state a clear end result.  The objective names the end result, output or intent, so there is no room for misinterpretation.  When writing Goals and Objectives, use concise verbs, such as:
    • “to establish,”
    • “to increase,”
    • “to reduce”
  • Measurable:Your Goals and Objectives must be quantifiable in some way.  Some general categories and examples associated with measuring objectives include:
    • Quantity number of units produced, items processed, calls taken, contacts made, etc.
    • Quality number of specs met, percentage error rates, percent waste rates, number of complaints received, accuracy of reports, etc.
    • Cost dollars spent, percentage within budget, dollars spent on overtime, etc.
    • Time in Use percentage of target dates met, number of deadlines met, number of units shipped on time, etc.
  • Attainable: there must be a reasonable chance that the objective can be achieved; some people suggest an 80% probability is effective as a motivator.  If you set Goals and Objectives that are too much of a stretch, people won’t take them seriously.
  • Relevant: Goals and Objectives must be related directly to the individual’s sphere of influence and key job accountabilities.
  • Timebound: states a time frame, target dates, and/or milestones during the year that are expected to be met.

If you struggle with writing performance objectives, here is a formula to get you started:

  • I will ( action )
  • so that ( outcome ).
  • by (     date     )

For example:

I will work with my team to develop performance objectives so that 100% of my direct reports will have documented objectives by January 31.

3 Things to Remember About How to Set Goals and Objectives:

  1. Involve your team when establishing Goals and Objectives.  These should not be done in isolation.
  2. Meet often to discuss progress.  Do not allow the setting of Goals and Objectives to become an academic exercise that is visited only once per year.
  3. Include Business/Operational and Leadership objectives.  Most people establish their business or operational Goals and Objectives, and fail to define Leadership ones.  If you are a leader of other people you need to set Goals and Objectives that pertain to that function.  For example:

a)    The number and quality of one on one meetings

b)    % compliance on performance appraisals

c)    measure of employee development activity

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about How to Set Goals and Objectives (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Looking for the Full-Length Podcast/Video? …

Get Instant Access to 200+ Cheat Sheets, Videos, and Other Immediately Usable Tools for Busy Managers – Try Out a Wily Manager Membership Today!

Performance Management: How to Set Goals and Objectives

Join Jed and Bob as they talk about the Performance Management process, and more specifically about Setting Goals and Objectives.  How do you cascade them up and down the hierarchy?  Find out this week.

Watch the ‘How to Set Goals and Objectives’ Video (15 mins 16 sec):


Download the ‘How to Set Goals and Objectives’ Cheat Sheet, Video, Audio, and Slides

Setting Goals and Objectives

In many organizations, about once a year, you’ll write down your goals, and then forget all about them until your planning cycle the following year.  Join the Wily Manager guys this week as they discuss how to set Goals and Objectives, and more importantly how to make them relevant.

Monday’s Tip: If you have much more than six or seven goals – reassess what’s important. If you spread your attention to thin, you’ll likely not get anything done well.

Tuesday’s Tip: Look at your goals daily, and figure out how you’ll contribute towards them. Well defined goals and objectives guide your action on a daily basis – so look at them every day before you decide what you’ll do that day.

Wednesday’s Tip: Involve your team in the setting of goals and objectives. As a leader, if you develop your goals in isolation of your people, then it will be very difficult to achieve buy-in.

Thursday’s Tip: Make sure your Goals and Objectives are SMART. The SMART acronym may be overused and simple, but it is very powerful when applied.

Friday’s Tip: If you have direct reports, make sure you have leadership goals as well as business and operational ones. If you lead others you need to take your responsibility as a leader seriously.  You can demonstrate your commitment by setting goals that will drive your actions as a leader.

 

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