Dread evaluations? Here’s a better approach

As we get closer to the end of another year, many organizations remind their managers that it is time for the anxiety-inducing annual assessment process to take place. Some companies have moved to quarterly reviews, while others have abandoned the formal review process for more informal conversations throughout the year. For many organizations, the annual review process drives the merit pay adjustment and/or promotion processes.

Wherever your organization lands, incorporating some coaching skills could make a huge impact on the motivation and engagement of your employees and the success of your organization.

Performance evaluations serve an important role in organizational success. Managers provide feedback and employees learn where they stand, ideally leading to greater engagement, productivity and creativity. This is where traditional performance evaluations fall short, because often the conversations occur only once a year and are one-directional, with managers sharing feedback with employees that often leads to misunderstandings and disengagement.

Obviously, this approach does not meet the needs of the employee or the organization. Short of completely redesigning the process, what strategies might a manager use to improve the outcomes with their teams? Performing annual evaluations while incorporating proven coaching techniques in the process can increase employee development, improve communication, and increase engagement and motivation at organizations.

The topic of coaching has been around for a while, but it is helpful to define it clearly. Timothy Gallwey, author of the “Inner Game” and often referred to as the “Father of Modern Coaching,” provides this definition: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.”

In other words, a coaching-centered approach encourages employees to determine the right way forward, rather than managers dictating what to do. Human learning is more intense and long-lasting when we figure it out for ourselves rather than hearing it from others—just ask any parent of a toddler or teenager. The challenge is that modern organizations don’t consistently allow time and training to accomplish this, so managers skip regular feedback conversations and at the end of the year speed through the process and tell employees what they need to do to improve.

Organizations that prioritize the training and allocate the time to practice a coaching-centered approach to ongoing development and annual assessments will enhance employee skills, improve constructive feedback, build trust and create a positive organizational culture. In practice, this means managers are having regular one-on-one meetings with employees, gathering data and insights, and building relationships throughout the year, not just in the few weeks leading up to the annual assessment.

Around annual performance-review time, employees are asked to complete self-assessments before the meeting, and managers come fully prepared to highlight accomplishments, give constructive feedback and ask questions like, “What steps can you take to move forward?”

Employees might initially resist the task of self-reflection, but if they care about enhancing their own skills, they will recognize the value quickly. In the end, the annual assessment will be the reflection of many conversations throughout the year between employee and manager, providing a concrete example that the organization is committed to investing in their employees and allowing them more autonomy in their work, making them feel valued and motivated.

According to research, proper training is the key, as some techniques are more difficult than others for managers to incorporate. Many managers before training will describe “good coaching” as something close to micromanaging, and—spoiler alert—it is not. Coaching skills that differ the most from traditional management practices include “recognizing and pointing out strengths” and “letting the coachee arrive at their own solution.”

Managers who want to improve their ability to recognize and point out strengths will spend quality time with employees, observe patterns of behavior that lead to successful outcomes and incorporate strengths-based questions in the annual performance reviews. Encouraging employees to arrive at their own solutions during the annual review process would include using active listening skills, being fully present, and asking open-ended questions like, “What would success look like to you?” or, “Based on your past successes, are there strategies you can apply to meet this new challenge?”

Annual reviews do not need to be the dreaded “check the box” exercise that managers and employees endure every year. By incorporating a few key coaching techniques like observing and highlighting your employees’ strengths, encouraging them to leverage their strengths in current situations and allowing them to innovate viable solutions with guidance, managers can create a more supportive and effective process that promotes employee development and organizational success.•

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Cutillo is the director of experiential learning and lecturer of management at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Indianapolis.