It’s well documented that employees, managers and HR pros believe that the annual performance review is a waste of time – they’re too generic and vague, not timely enough, and in the end they’re often simply seen as an admin task that doesn’t add any real value to either employees themselves, or the organisation as a whole.

In a recent article for HBR, Eric Mosley notes the problems with the current state of annual performance appraisals, and suggests a different model for performance management that is socially driven:

Of course, in this particular situation, ‘crowdsourcing’ simply refers to the idea of each employee gathering information and getting feedback from multiple people who they work with on a regular basis. These are the people who can really see how hard the employee is working and what they are achieving. In traditional performance management, where the review is conducted by the manager (or HR) alone, there is just a single, narrow view that the employee’s performance is being based on, and this can often be inaccurate.

But perhaps the main question is: how can this be done effectively from a practical perspective? There are many tools and applications available for tracking employee progress and performance, one of which is Engage, which specifically allows for the gathering of feedback in realtime, which is of course the key to continuous improvement for employees.

And it’s not only managers that have access to provide feedback – anyone can be asked to provide feedback, from team mates, to colleagues in a separate department, to customers and clients, so the idea of ‘crowdsourcing’ performance management is covered.

Click through to read Eric’s full article, ‘Crowdsource Your Performance Reviews‘, where he also discusses several business and managerial benefits of gathering recognition and feedback from multiple sources.

Do you know where you’re going, career-wise? Is your career path steering you in the right direction – one that you want to go in? Sometimes, you may feel you don’t have much control over your career path, but as an employee it’s as much your responsibility, as it is your manager’s, to take the initiative in managing your career direction and growth.

But from a practical perspective, it can be tough – you may be unsure of how much time and focus to put on managing your career goals and development, as opposed to your delivery goals and business related tasks.  It’s very easy to get caught up in daily operational emergencies, and we can often lose track of the bigger picture and where we are really trying to go. We forget about our career goals until the dreaded annual performance review meeting comes along.

It is certainly unrealistic to review and monitor your career goal progress on a daily, or weekly basis (as you may do with your operational goals and deliverables). But if the annual appraisal meeting is the only time some thought is given to our career goals, that is not often enough. This leads us to the question:

How often, and how much time, should you spend ‘managing your career’?

And another important question is:

What can you do from a practical perspective that will help you manage your career effectively?

The first step is to make a record of your career goals using a performance and goal management tool, such as Engage. It’s common to have a record of our delivery and project goals (usually on a piece of paper in a file somewhere!), but it’s important to have your career goals documented too.  It’s also preferable to have them captured in a place that is easily accessible (like a web-based application), so you can review them on a regular basis.

This brings us to the second step – review your goals fortnightly. This means simply checking in to make sure you’re still on track with your longer term growth goals, and not only focusing on your short term deliverables. It’s possible that you haven’t made much progress on those growth and development goals you have recorded, especially if you’ve had a busy month. But that’s ok, as long as you take just 30 minutes to an hour every two weeks to review them, and establish what you need to do to take action toward achieving them.

The third step is to ask for solid feedback –getting feedback on your long-term career goals is just as important as getting feedback on your operational performance, but there will be a slight difference. Where it is certainly appropriate to ask for feedback on your delivery goals at least once a month (or even every 2 weeks), it may only realistic for you to get detailed and meaningful feedback on your long-term career goals every 3 or 4 months because, naturally, progress on them is slower and they take longer to achieve.

Back to our original questions:

1. How often, and how much time, should you spend ‘managing your career’?

• Regularly revisit and review your career goals – take 30 minutes to an hour every two weeks to do this.
• Get useful and specific feedback on your career goals each quarter – every 3 months, have a frank discussion with your manager about your career, not just about your operational tasks and performance.

2. What can you do from a practical perspective that will help you manage your career effectively?

• Be sure that you and your manager make a record of these career conversations and the feedback you discuss. This will be easy if you follow the advice given in step one, and have your career goals captured using a tool like Engage.

It’s no secret that our team advocates the idea of replacing the annual performance review with more regular, frequent and meaningful feedback and conversations between employee and manager. John Hollon recently wrote an article on this topic, where he excellently describes why the performance review meeting is not the most important conversation. Here’s what he had to say:

He also quotes Jason Lauritsen, and HR Pro and management consultant, to reinforce his point:

Lauritsen is certainly making a valid point here, as we know there is evidence that timeous feedback – or ‘feedback loops’ – essentially give people continuous opportunities to learn and improve.

Social technologies are a dominant aspect in our daily lives, and the workplace is no exception. FastCompany had an interesting interview with Dion Hinchcliffe, co-author of ‘Social Business By Design’, on the topic.

Hinchcliffe talks about how there are many great opportunities for companies to use social tools to connect better with their customers, but also to optimize communication and connections within a company, amongst the employees. And such tools can be used for a variety of purposes – project collaboration, regular information sharing, recognition, and the list goes on. To use Hinchcliffe’s words:

Aside from using these tools to collaborate on every-day work, it’s apparent that using social technologies is the way forward when it comes to managing employee performance and careers. Systems like Engage, that track and monitor goal progress as well as provide a platform for giving feedback on performance, can add value in a number of ways:

• Employees have continuous access to review their goals, and make sure they’re on track with their work and careers.
• Managers and employees can give each other feedback in real-time, instead of waiting until the traditional annual performance review by which time it’s often too late. Read more here on why real-time feedback is essential.
• Higher lever managers are able to view how well middle managers are managing their teams – something that is often overlooked, or not easy to determine.
• A history of each employee’s performance is recorded and everything (feedback, ratings, general comments and so forth) are all kept in one place. Each person and their manager can easily see how well they’ve progressed by looking back at their previous reviews over time.
• Employees have the opportunity to share their vibe – how they’re doing – in a discreet way. Having this outlet available, and knowing that your manager is listening, can go a long way in making employees feel valued. Managing performance is not only about the work itself – issues that are not work related can also impact on a person’s performance and it’s important to have a way to share and acknowledge them.

Using social tools provide a great way of collaborating and communicating on work-related projects and goals, but also on the ‘softer’ side of the employee-manager relationship – which is often equally important as the work itself. Social technologies can also give managers a great overall picture of what’s really going on in their teams, and Hinchcliffe talks about the value of this in the interview.  Take the time to read the full post on FastCompany.

We know that for employees to be truly motivated and engaged they need to have a sense of purpose. They need to see how their role is connected to the organisation’s strategic goals and know that their contribution is significant – but how can this be the case if employees are unaware of what the real bigger picture is?

According to a survey conducted by AMA Enterprise, more than a third (36%) of employees are out of the loop, and don’t know what’s really going on at their companies. And this doesn’t only apply to employees, it often applies to senior managers too:

It’s a little unclear exactly what the survey is referring with regard to employees ‘knowing what’s going on’.  But one thing is for certain: in any company employees need to be informed and up-to-date when it comes to what is expected of them and, more importantly, why they need deliver on those expectations from a company perspective.

Here are three steps that will help you make sure your employees know ‘what’s going on’:

1. Clearly communicate the company’s strategic vision and goals to everyone

Simply having the company mission statement printed out or painted on the walls isn’t enough – there need to be specifics. Everyone must know the details of the quarterly and annual goals and objectives of the company, as well as any revisions that may be made on an ongoing basis. It’s true that some pieces of information may need to remain confidential, or communicated to senior management only, but a culture of transparency should be fostered and adhered to as much as possible.

2. Set each employee’s goals in alignment with company level goals

For employees to have a true sense of purpose, what they do on a daily basis (or ‘operational level’) should be in support of their tactical goals, which in turn should be clearly linked to company level goals. Employees will gain that sense of purpose when they know that their role and objectives have an impact on the company’s performance.

3. Clear expectations

• The goals that are set for employees must be as clear and specific as possible.
• If it is necessary to make any alternations to the goals set, these must be clearly communicated and ‘re-agreed’ upon. It’s important that goal expectations are officially agreed upon in order for employees to fairly be held accountable for their contributions.
• Employees should be able to review the expectations of their goals at any stage, and be able to clarify, ask questions, and ask for feedback as regularly as they need and want to.
• An application such as Engage is a great way to easily record and monitor tactical level goals for employees.  Being web-based, it is available for employees to review their goals and ask for feedback at any time and at any place.

Unless you’ve been living in a hole over the last several years, you’ll know that social media and social tools are a significant part of our daily lives.  They have certainly impacted on how we communicated with each other in various ways.

But it’s not only having an effect on the social, non-work side of our lives, it is impacting on the work side of the equation too – in the area of performance management in particular:

1. We’re willing to share how we’re doing virtually. We are becoming accustomed to sharing how awesome or bleak we’re feeling with our friends via Facebook, Twitter, our blogs, etc.  Millennials in particular feel more comfortable doing this, and the situation isn’t any different at work. Employees are likely to feel a bit more brave about sharing how they’re doing through an online tool, rather than having to approach their manager to bring up something that’s concerning them.  Social tools that allow for this open more transparent communication channels between employees and their managers, so these tools become a great starting point for having those conversations that are difficult to have.

2. Annual performance reviews are going out the window. Today’s working environments are fast-paced and ever-changing. The need to adapt quickly is paramount, and tools that facilitate the capturing of regular feedback have become very important. Feedback needs to be given as and when an event occurs, so that people can learn from their mistakes and triumphs continuously. The adoption of social tools in the area of performance management is a great opportunity to truly develop employees on an ongoing basis.

3. More effective management of remote workers. Managers need to easily be able to keep in touch and up to date with what’s going on with their employees who are working offsite, or from home.  The virtual workforce is growing, so tools that allow for simple and efficient performance and goal-related exchanges have become valuable assets to organisations – and they also make it easier to collaboratively conduct remote performance reviews.

These social tools certainly do not replace face-to-face performance conversations, but they do stimulate them.  But most importantly, they facilitate the easy and continuous capture of feedback, which is the key element for teams and individuals to stay on top of their work, and to remain ahead of the pack through constant learning and development.

Kimberly Roden writes an excellent three part series post on why annual performance appraisals should be chucked out of the window forever. She points out the issues that make the current ‘annual performance review system’, that so many companies still have, a waste of time.

For one thing, the ‘forms’ used are all wrong.  Employees, with their various human complexities and varying roles, can’t simply be rated against a traditional, pre-determined evaluation form. It’s more complicated than that.

In terms of fixing it, she first advises that short, one-on-one meetings between employee and manager happen on a regular basis – at least every month, but preferably every 2 weeks. Having these frequent conversations will be very beneficial for three reasons:

1. Conversations around performance become easier with practice. If you dread giving employees constructive criticism, forcing yourself to do it more often will make it easier as time goes by. You’ll also become better at effectively communicating the points you’re trying to get across – practice makes perfect!

2. More frequent feedback means performance can be improved immediately, rather than only in seven, eight or nine months time when you have the annual review meeting. And that is even if you remember to give that feedback, or if it is still relevant.

3. In all probability, the necessity to give tough love will diminish if feedback is kept frequent. Additionally, if you stick to regular, short meetings it provides greater opportunity to praise employees for work they are doing well, and reinforce the positives. This won’t happen as frequently with an annual review process.

Remember that having frequent one-on-one conversations is great, but it’s even greater if there is a way to quickly and easily record or make a note of the conversation that took place. Adopting a real-time performance management application for this purpose will ensure that no feedback or progress will go unnoticed, and will be a valuable tool for both individuals and teams.

The second piece of advice for moving away from the traditional annual appraisal system, is to strive for the greatest objectivity possible in the performance management process. Often, a single annual performance review meeting will be between the employee and manager, but what about the team mates of the employee? When do they get to have a say about how the employee has performed (or not performed)?

The first step in moving toward objectivity is to set goals that are very clearly defined, so everyone knows the criteria they are giving feedback against. It goes without saying that the best way to do this is to make goals SMART.

The second step is to ask as many relevant people for feedback as possible on a regular basis. Maybe an employee meets for their one-on-one conversation with their manager each month, but then they should also be asking team mates (as well as clients and customers, if possible) for feedback at least every quarter.

In her third and final post, Kimberly refers to “the sin of recency” – essentially, if feedback is only exchanged and captured once a year, then only most the recent issues, achievements, mishaps and triumphs are recalled. What happened nine months ago is forgotten. This is why data and feedback must be captured at regular intervals throughout the year. This can be considered the third step toward striving for objectivity – it ensures that the more recent events are not weighted more heavily, or deemed more important, than events from several months ago.

To summarize, annual performance appraisals must be no more, and instead be replaced by:

• Regular one-one-one meetings between employee and manager
• Feedback captured quarterly by team mates, clients and customers against clear, SMART goals

Effective performance management, career development and growth opportunities need to be taken seriously by employers.  It’s especially true if they have the view of retaining their most talented individuals – as we know, it’s common for the young Gen Ys to change their jobs quite regularly.

Offering employees guidance and giving them opportunities is great, but here’s an area where you could face a problem: what happens if you have an employee (or employees) who aren’t really interested in establishing and pursuing a particular career path, and aren’t motivated by new or different opportunities – they just want to do their job. But you don’t want to let them quietly move on, and hire someone who shows more enthusiasm, because they do their job really well.

Some people may think: Let the person get on with it!

If the employee doesn’t want to be involved in a continuous performance management process, where clear personal growth goals are set and regular feedback is gathered on those goals, they can’t be forced. If they’re doing their work well, why change anything? The company should concentrate on giving thorough feedback and reviews to the people who want it, and need it.

But the problem with this view is that there’s much more to managing performance and careers than ‘whether the person wants it or not’.

Consider these two factors:

1. The organisation’s performance history.

Each employee has to participate in an effective performance management process – that data needs to be part of the organisation’s performance history.  The person needs to be assessed to determine where they are excelling, and what they are really doing that is adding so much value to their team. It will help with role creation and job descriptions for new staff who join the company in that position in the future.

2. The need for consistent management.

There can’t be some people participating in a thorough performance management process while others aren’t, simply because ‘they don’t want to’. Unfairness, favouritism and a host of other negative perceptions could run wild if such a situation were to exist. It goes without saying that this won’t be healthy for the individuals, team, or company involved.

So what can you do?

The bottom line is that everyone needs to be performance managed to some extent. But there are some areas of leeway.

Firstly, you can distinguish between operational/delivery goals, and career/personal development goals. For those who want to pursue a career path, and put emphasis on their personal development, goals can be set for them in that area in addition to their routine delivery and operational goals. But for those who just want to do their job, their delivery goals can be the focus area.

Secondly, there can be flexibility around the frequency of feedback. Employees who are enthusiastic about their career development and stretch goals can be encouraged to get feedback from peers and managers as often as possible – even every week if they like! Of course, it helps to have an effective framework for gathering such data. Employees who are keen to just get on with their job can gather feedback a little less often, but there’s no getting around the fact that it still needs to be done. Their manager could drive this process every couple of months, or even every quarter.

Concluding thoughts

If an employee does their job really well, consistently adds value to their team, and does not let their co-workers down, they need not be monitored on a regular basis. In fact, if you try to do this they may feel they’re being micromanaged, and it could drive a solid performer away.

But every employee’s performance, role, responsibilities and delivery does need to be recorded in detail as part of the company’s performance history and data. Performance management isn’t only about the individual being managed – it’s about monitoring performance at an organisational level too.

Andrew McAfee is a Principle Research Scientist at MIT’s Center for Digital Business, and he offers some excellent insight on why the cloud can be so beneficial for companies.

For example, it helps groups and companies collaborate – working in the cloud allows employees to share knowledge and information on a global scale. To use Andrew’s words:

In the short video below, Andrew offers 3 pieces of advice on how companies can begin to explore using the cloud:

It isn’t uncommon for employees to be uncertain about what is expected of them. Often, their goals aren’t clearly defined, they’re not sure how their performance is being measured, or the standards against which they will be evaluated.

Maybe some employees get their goals laid out for them once a year, at their annual appraisal. But are they given the chance to revisit these goals at regular intervals? And are they able to go over the details with ease if they get the feeling they are going off track? In addition, a lot can change in the space of a year! Things could happen that will completely alter the overall objective that a team, or entire organisation, is trying to achieve. Managers and teams should have a framework in place that will help them adjust accordingly, and with purpose.

This is where an application like Engage could add tremendous value to a company. Employees can derive a sense of security and direction from being able to access their goals, and ask for feedback on them, at any time they wish. It also concretely records what was agreed upon, so there is no ambiguity regarding expectations between them and their manager.

In a worst case scenario, employees could experience a case of ‘management by mental telepathy’, described by Joan Lloyd in this article, where expectations are not communicated to them at all:

It goes without saying that such situations should be avoided at all costs. Making a record of goals and performance expectations that can (and should be) revisited on a regular basis should be a priority for senior management at every company. Employees will feel more secure and confident that what they are doing is correct, and they can fairly be held accountable for the work they have done.