Performance management is a phrase that’s defined in different ways depending on the leader you are speaking with. I have often struggled with the barrier the phrase presents by including the word “management.” It implies that someone is managing someone’s performance. While this may be true, taking this approach misses what employees are seeking from their leaders today. They don’t want someone to manage their performance but someone to partner with on their performance.
How would you approach the performance management process if it were called performance partnership? Both parties involved in the process have a role to play, and there is shared accountability. Too often, in my coaching and consulting work, leaders and employees have told me that performance management feels one-sided, with a “check-the-box” approach. Either the leader feels employees don’t want to engage in the process or, more often, employees feel their leader does the bare minimum. This feeling can change when the leader engages in the process, brings shared partnership to it, and opens the door for the employee to engage. Here are three pieces of performance management to help the process become a partnership and engage those you lead.
1. Ensure an Individual Approach
Each employee you lead is different, which requires you to tailor your communication style and management approach to each person. If an employee thrives on research and data, be sure to include data when you partner with them on their development. If your employee connects better with stories, share how what you’re discussing fits into a shared story, even if you are more partial to bullet points. Your goal is to partner with your employees in a unique way.
Great leaders flex their communication style and approach to create a unique experience for each team member. Remember this approach when rewarding and recognizing employees, too, as rewards should be a part of the performance partnership process.
2. Ask, Don’t Tell
Today’s work environment makes finding quick answers easier than ever. It has also made for a lot of self-proclaimed experts who are better at telling than asking, and a lot of leaders fall into this category. They tell their employees what they need from them, tell them how to accomplish it and often take away the opportunity for exploration.
Partnership leaders ask instead of tell. They ask their team members questions that help them think, research, and work to find and own the answers. They engage employees in development through questions instead of directing them. It is enticing to tell a team member how to find the answer rather than watch them grow while finding the answer on their own. Be the leader who partners by asking questions that lead to a thought-provoking search for information.
3. Remember That You Can’t Hold Someone Accountable
I pause in reflection each time I hear someone say, “I’m going to hold that person accountable.” I’ve learned the only person who can hold me accountable is me. Accountability is actually a partnership. The leader should set parameters to give employees a clear understanding of what is expected of them and to empower them. Team members can then reflect on how they can hold themselves accountable and ask for clarification if needed.
Both parties have a piece to own: The leader must hold themselves accountable for being clear and personalized in their communication. The employee must hold themselves accountable for clarifying that message to ensure they can accomplish the opportunity presented to them. This shared accountability is a piece of performance partnership that involves self-leadership by both parties.
Being a leader who partners on performance isn’t hard if your focus is on the right thing: your people. Rarely do leaders need to manage in today’s work environment. People don’t need to be managed; they need to be partnered with and given the ability to make choices and collaborate with their leader and colleagues. There are rare instances where employees will choose not to hold themselves accountable, and in these instances, leaders must respect their employee’s choice, which may lead them out of the organization.
People want better, expect better and deserve better. Be the leader who partners instead of manages, and help break the cycle of half the workforce’s leaving a job because of their manager.
