Shifted HR

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I was initially going to give this post the title Performance Management, but then I had a vision in my head of people putting their hands to their faces yelling, "NO! NO! NO! Not another HR person telling us how to complete a performance appraisal form."

I read an article once, years ago, that highlighted an executive from the United States said that if they had a choice between performance review and a paper cut they would opt for the paper cut every time. I think this sums the process up for the majority of people.

What I really want to discuss is whether you think your organisation has a culture of giving feedback. By this, I don't mean once or twice a year. I mean on a day to day basis.

So, what I want you to do at the moment is to forget about the six-monthly or yearly performance review and close your eyes and imagine the following. Imagine that your employees:

• understand what type of behaviour is expected in the workplace;
• understand how the work they do impacts organisational performance;
• understand what is to be delivered;
• understand when it has to be delivered;
• understand the quality the work is to be delivered in;
• are comfortable in going to managers to discuss issues knowing that they will be supported;
• know they will be recognised for their achievements;
• can discuss career aspirations and what support can be given to help;
• are spoken to about their strengths and how these strengths can be used more;
• are spoken to about where they may need to develop further;
• are spoken to about the work that they like to do or would like to do; and
• are able to provide upward feedback to help managers strengthen or develop their leadership skills.

Imagine what type of organisation you could have if the above happened as a matter of business-as-usual? You would hope it would be an organisation that is achieving its business goals.

Really, when you think about giving feedback, it is about good continuous communication.

Maybe my next article should be about why people dislike giving feedback?