In recent years, there has been much talk about the topic of appraisal and performance appraisals. Often the definition or meaning of the appraisal interview is based on the fact that many organizations (still) work with a traditional annual cycle in which there is a (one-way) conversation once a year about how the employee has performed. More and more organizations need a new way of assessment. There is therefore the question whether it is possible to do away with the traditional performance interview or assessment interview.
In this "new" way of assessing, you give employees much more control and make them responsible for their own growth and development. This does not mean that there will be no more assessment, certainly not! But in a different way! No longer once a year during the assessment interviews. But how? We would like to explain that below.
Stop judging - the appraisal interview is out of date
Judging often means looking back at all that is wrong about a period that has been and which you can no longer change. We often judge afterwards, during the appraisal interview, and then it is already too late. These appraisals are therefore not at all inspiring for growth and development. In addition, the traditional HR cycle is often detached from daily practice and is totally uninspiring. Employees have no responsibility and goals are imposed by managers or even by the organization. There is a great need to do things differently.
Reason enough that "abolishing the (traditional) appraisal cycle or appraisals" is a topic you read and hear a lot about. Should we really do away with appraisals? No! Should we change the whole approach? Yes!
We continue to manage performance, behavior and development, but in a different way. A way that suits today's way of working. Managers continue to set the course, but employees are more in charge of their own development. The appraisals no longer take place just once a year, but you are continuously talking to your employees about growth and development.
All this requires a new way of working. However, it is not easy to make the switch from an existing situation to a whole new way of working. Doing away with annual appraisals affects every employee and can therefore mean quite a change. Fortunately, in most cases this change is extremely welcome. Precisely because employees are so dissatisfied with the classic annual cycle with only one annual appraisal interview. By the way, Treams is happy to give you a hand in making the transition to a new appraisal system. With Treams' free master class you will learn in an hour and a half, for free, how a new (online) appraisal system can contribute to a new HR cycle.
What change do you go through when you switch to a new appraisal cycle or digital appraisal system?
In the new way of assessment, you want to put people at the center. The following elements are important here:
1. From fixed assessment conversations to continuous and meaningful conversations
Continuous dialogue is key to the change to a new assessment cycle. To be agile as an organization, it is important to have continuous conversations with employees. The three fixed conversations (assessment interviews and performance interviews) per year are thus coming to an end. In the past, the appraisal interviews were mainly one-way communication from the manager; in the new way of appraising we assume two-way communication in short conversations about the employee's development. This way you no longer judge after the fact and you can make adjustments earlier when something goes wrong, or reinforce when something goes well. So instead of looking back on the past year once a year during performance reviews, you engage in more frequent conversations to monitor progress. During these ongoing conversations, instead of going down a list of crosses and checkmarks, you engage in a conversation about the employee's development.
2. From long-term goals to short-term goals
Setting goals has a motivating effect. You want to do everything possible to achieve this goal. In addition, setting goals provides focus. You know what you are working toward and what you need to do to achieve this goal. The pitfall within many organizations is that they set goals at the beginning of the year that must be achieved by the end of the year. Whether they have been achieved is then assessed in the appraisal interview. But do you already know in January exactly what you want to have achieved in December? No. In the new way of assessment and Treams' digital assessment system, it is important to set short-term goals with a deadline. For example, for a period of three or six months. This makes it tangible. Let the employee set their own goals based on organizational objectives. This way they are responsible themselves but it contributes to the common goal.
3. From focusing on things that go wrong, to focusing on what is successful
Employees sometimes see the annual appraisals as 'judgment calls'. During this conversation you are told what went wrong while often you can no longer do anything about it. By focusing on talents and empowering employees, there is a greater chance that objectives will be achieved. When you start from the strengths of employees, this leads to more job satisfaction and better performing employees.
4. From looking back to looking forward and developing
You no longer have any influence over things that happened in the past. Unfortunately, during performance reviews, people often dwell too long on what didn't go well in the past. By dwelling too long on your mistakes, you get into a negative spiral in which negative behavior is reinforced. Thus, change never occurs. Instead, look ahead to how you can do better in the future, what it will take to get there and focus on what is possible. In doing so, always keep the focus on your stated goals, that way you are always working toward an inspiring outlook. Talking about what went wrong and what should not happen again is thus a thing of the past.
5. From a unilateral process to a collective process
In the old way of working, an assessment interview is based on one-way traffic from the manager. His/her judgment is decisive and the employee has no input in this. This is not motivating at all. In the new way of assessing we assume much more of a collective process in which not only the manager and the employee have input, but with the help of 360 degree feedback also colleagues or external parties (such as customers or suppliers). Thus, the picture becomes much more complete.
A new way of assessment: how to do it?
I like to take you step by step to a successful anternative for your assessment cycle, tailored to your organization. In this workbook we explain each step in more detail and help you with all kinds of fill-in exercises, tips & tricks and inspiration.
1. The company's strategy and direction
This is an important step toward a successful alternative to assessment. This is because it is essential that the plans you want to make are in line with where management wants to go. Have a conversation with management and find out what your business will look like in three to five years. What you also want to get sharp are the most pressing challenges right now. That way you can address both short-term and long-term issues.
2. The dot on the horizon
If you know what the company's strategic goals are and what the most pressing challenges are, you can understand where you need to go to achieve the strategic goals. What will your culture look like in three to five years, what skills will be highly developed, and why are you winning over the competition? What does the dot on the horizon look like and what is your Big Hairy Audacious Goal?
3. The current situation
Now that the dot on the horizon is sharp, let's take stock of the current situation. How are you currently working on the personal development of employees? It is important to map all the activities that are currently taking place in order to ultimately answer the question, "Which elements of the current cycle are working and which are not?
4. Collecting pain from the target audience
It is essential to discover where dissatisfaction currently lies with the interview cycle. There is only one way to find out: engage with employees and managers. Ask them what they are up against and why this is so annoying. Then also ask what is going well and what they find pleasant.
5. Outline the current situation
You have gathered quite a bit of information by now. You know how you are currently working and you know what the employees and managers are up against. List this out and make it succinctly clear. That way you can easily present it to all the stakeholders you will encounter later in this process.
6. The GAP
Time to determine the GAP between the current and desired situation. You laid out the current situation nicely on one A4 in the previous step. You also determined the goal you want to get to. It is now important to see where the gap is. Where are employees now, and where can or do they want to go? In step 6 of our 'stop judging' workbook, we give you explanations and questions to help you with this.
7. The implementation plan
First, you are going to determine what the priorities are. Based on previous steps, you can get to work creating a plan. Focus initially on the problems you can solve in the short term. In the long term, you are going to work backwards from the dot on the horizon. In doing so, it's nice to break it down into small pieces.
8. Secure
By now you have worked out step by step how you are going to achieve your dot on the horizon. It is important that you not only think about the introduction of the method, but also how you are going to secure it and ensure that it leads to a sustainable change. In the Treams online tool you can record the entire interview cycle. Read here what to look out for when choosing the right tooling.
How do you get employees to participate in this change?
Change is difficult and always brings resistance. Do not underestimate this and certainly do not expect employees to do what you ask of them from day one. Activation is therefore enormously important in this process. We would like to take you into the world of resistance.
Why do people exhibit resistance?
Resistance is healthy. It is a primal instinct that we have inherited from the past. For example, from parents who had expectations that you could not meet or because in education or sports things were asked of you that you did not want or could not do. In addition, we humans often find it quite difficult to say "no. The combination of these expectations and not daring to say "no" causes us to feel the need to protect ourselves, otherwise we lose ourselves. We are on guard and that system comes back on 'automatically' when a change occurs. Like a reflex that is actually no longer functional, but is still inside you. And there is nothing you can do about it.
In some people, resistance is enormous. So great that it can even affect others. This causes the 'resistance' button to turn on in those others as well. For example: you have a very good idea that could save your company a lot of money. The director is enthusiastic, but it could cost other colleagues their jobs. They will not react positively. Because they shoot into resistance, you yourself will also shoot into defense and you will show behavior that goes with it: persuasion, defense or perhaps even manipulation. This is how it works in the animal world, for example. When an animal feels threatened and gives a signal to that effect, all the other animals are immediately alert and all the alarm bells go red. And so, in one fell swoop, a mosquito is turned into an elephant.
How do you deal with this?
The simplest way to deal with this is to remove the sense of threat or danger. You do this most easily by asking questions and listening carefully. For example, ask what is holding him/her back, where he/she sees threat, what makes it complicated and what he/she is up against. Keep asking until you have everything on the table. Summarize what you have heard, repeat it and ask for confirmation. Keep in mind that there are limits to what can or cannot be changed and tell the other person that. For example, if you have purchased new tooling, it will not be thrown out with the garbage if one employee does not want to work with it. Ultimately, try to turn your biggest opponents into your biggest ambassadors.
Tips for getting employees on board with the change:
1. Make it a habit
Ideally, you want employees to be constantly engaged in their growth and development. But due to the delusion of the day, this is often forgotten. It has to become a habit for employees and managers. Some time ago, one of our clients went looking for an action that almost everyone does every day. A moment when employees are momentarily distracted from their work anyway. They decided to link development with eating a piece of fruit. They introduced this within the organization through a campaign (think posters on the toilets and at the coffee machine) and in no time, eating a piece of fruit became associated with your personal development. How easy can it be?
2. Start with the managers
A good example leads the way. So does setting goals and asking for feedback. Start with the managers and build it out through them to the rest of the organization. Train the managers in how and how often they should be involved in growth and development and then actually give them the assignment to carry it out. That way the ball will start rolling automatically. After all, it is enormously contagious!
3. Games
Games are an easy way to change behavior. This is because in most games there is a competition element where you are rewarded for good behavior. And because you are rewarded, you keep coming back. This works the same way in the workplace. So make it a game. While doing so, make sure there is a clear goal present. That way the employee knows what to do and it gives the opportunity to improve performance and celebrate successes. In addition, appropriate rewards are important. Match it to the target group and circumstances. Those who really like something will work hard for it.
4. The power of repetition
Don't expect employees to immediately embrace the new way of working after you tell them once what to do. To make this way of working their own, it is important that you remind your employee regularly. You can do this in a very easy way by putting up posters or telling them in the conversations you have with each other. Treams' software sends reminders to employees when it's time to take action again (for example, update your goals or ask for feedback).
5. Start small and build it big
As we mentioned earlier, when implementing a change, you are bound to encounter resistance. And that's healthy. To deal with this, it's important to start small so you can build it up big later. That way it never feels like a mega big change to employees. For example, start with giving compliments, build this up later to asking for feedback and eventually to sending out a 360-degree feedback questionnaire.
How can a tool help you make this change?
For the younger generation, supporting the process of growth and development with the right (online) tools is an absolute must. For example, in a tool like Treams you can record the entire interview cycle, set goals that serve as a guideline for the appraisal interview, make notes of the agreements made during these interviews and request (360 degree) feedback from colleagues and external parties. In addition, a tool provides insight into your own growth and development and that of your employees. Software makes the entire growth process much more accessible and can be broken down into small pieces. This makes it more manageable and makes it easier for employees to achieve their goals.
What should you look for when choosing a tooling?
1. Easy to customize
Organizations are constantly changing. So it is nice when a tool can be completely customized to your needs and wishes and that you can also make adjustments yourself. That way you are not dependent on others and that saves you a lot of time and hassle.
2. Usability
Employees ultimately need to work the most in the tool. Therefore, choose a tool that is made for them and is user-friendly. That makes it a lot easier AND more fun!
3.It's about the change
A tool is not an end in itself. It is important to look for a tool that best supports your cycle rather than adapting your cycle to your tool. Also remember that a cycle can be different for each employee or employee group.