Page 21 - Twenty Four Lessons for Mastering Your New Role

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substantiate your observations. Avoid labels like “careless” or “sloppy.”
Instead, cite concrete reasons why you perceive someone this way. One
of the hardest lessons for new managers to learn when reviewing
employees’ performance is to allow the workers to judge for themselves
how they’re doing—after citing specific examples of their actions.
Strive for accuracy. Unseasoned managers tend to gloss over
employees’ performance problems by rating individuals as “fine” or
“above average” in all categories without much thought. That’s risky.
If a worker’s performance declines to the point where termination
becomes an issue, you may lack the documentation you need to
prove that person’s performance was already shaky at the last per-
formance appraisal.
Here’s how to capitalize on performance reviews:
Stick to a schedule: Employees are counting the days until their
next review, so honor your commitments. Whether you promise
appraisals quarterly, semiannually or annually, follow through. If you
postpone reviews or force employees to nag you because you forgot,
you’ll kill morale.
Use the DISC formula: DISC stands for “describe impact, specify
consequences.” When you assess performance, describe the specific
behavior, discuss its impact, specify what you want to happen and
explain the consequences—both good and bad—based on the
employee’s response.
Suggest, don’t threaten: Make sure your goal in reviewing someone’s
performance is to impart knowledge that allows them to improve.
Rather than insist that a receptionist’s curt demeanor must stop, focus
on how much there is to gain by adopting a more genial manner.

“It’s only as we develop others that we
permanently succeed.”
—Harvey S. Firestone

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