Feedback is the breakfast of champions so how can you deliver positive, constructive appraisals.
Performance Review
Credit Unions are required by regulation to carry out a performance review on all staff at least once a year. In most cases this activity is paper-based and regarded as a chore rather than an opportunity to shape culture, to grow the business, to see employees reach their potential and to get and give feedback. Why would this be the case?
- Part of the problem is that it is seen as a must do and the sooner it is over the better.
- It is slightly, or sometimes very, uncomfortable for the reviewee and the reviewer.
- It can be subjective and there can be a major divergence between how the employee feels they are performing and how the manager feels.
- It can be difficult for the manager to address difficult issues, sometimes personal, without coming across as negative and ignoring all the positive attributes and efforts of the employee.
- It can be cumbersome and involves a lot of paperwork.
Breakfast of Champions
Feedback is the breakfast of champions so how can you deliver positive, constructive appraisals. A good start is to have structured conversations based on pre-agreed metrics/ competencies that address the employee’s performance in a holistic manner, rather than on a pure results/ ad hoc basis. It is not just what the employee did, it is how they did it. It is the how that impacts on your members more than the what.
The approach is to talk, get the conversations going.
Expect Feedback
Today’s employees expect feedback. They get it all the time, in every walk of life.
- Education is built on feedback.
- Sport is built on feedback.
- Social life is built on feedback – what would Facebook be without likes and followers.
- TripAdvisor has singlehandedly improved the quality of hotels around the world all the way down to local b&bs through feedback.
It is somewhat puzzling to the employees that their work, so important to them, doesn’t have an effective feedback channel and often, if it does, it is rooted in some ancient technology that is almost alien to them – paper!
You deserve the best from your employees and they deserve the best from you.
Performance Metrics has years of experience in this area and has installed their system in a dozen Credit Unions at this point. Please call at stand 15 at the upcoming conference if you would like to see what attracted the first dozen Credit Unions.
Looking forward to seeing you all – you can give us some feedback afterwards!
Mark Ryder, Operations Director
087 250 0034 mark.ryder@1872perform.com
Fergal Brehony, Managing Director
087 858 6206, fergal.brehony@1872perform.com
