Page 151 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

122 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

feedback throughout the year. Supervisors often use the perfor-
mance review process as the time to deliver all the bad news at
once. Could you imagine a football coach waiting until season’s
end to give his players feedback on all of the things they could
have done better throughout the season? As absurd, unproduc-
tive, and ineffective as such an approach sounds, it is exactly
how most supervisors feel about and conduct the performance
review. Let me suggest that if supervisors deliver even one piece
of surprising critical feedback during a performance review,
they are not doing their job.
In truth, the performance review should be an opportunity
to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and serve as
a personal development and goal-setting session. It should be a
time to think about big-picture issues and reflect on what the
employee learned in the prior year and how he or she can apply
it going forward. The review should include a conversation about
how effective the supervisor was in supporting and facilitat-
ing the employee’s development and how he or she can be more
effective going forward. Supervisor and employee should leave
the review feeling energized and enthusiastic, not as though
they had just come from a root canal.

Fundamentals of

Supportive Feedback

Unfortunately, most supervisors are not trained in how to most
effectively provide ongoing supportive feedback to their employ-
ees; they also rarely have good role models. Here are some fun-
damentals to get you started. The first and most important
thing to remember is that the feedback is coming from a place of
caring about the employee and his or her success. It is not about