It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... I'm not talking about the holidays season which lies behind us, but the peak time of the performance management cycle.
I guess you just had or will have your goal setting, review or at least a check-in within the coming weeks. And you might think while rolling your eyes:
"Pffff... again! Who cares about performance management?!"
That traditional performance management with the annual goal setting and a mid-year check-in moment doesn't help to boost performance has been proven in many studies. That the classical performance management system is designed in a way that it tends to activate areas in our brain putting us in a fight-flight-freeze mode, doesn't help neither. And why companies are actually doing it? Is it more a control mechanism back from the industrial age or really a mean for personal and professional development? There are endless discussions around not linking it to monetary rewards, changing the sequencing or just throwing it out of the window.
It doesn't actually matter in which situation you are in at your organization and if you are frustrated or don't care about performance management at all. If you do it only to check the box, you miss a big chance!
You should care about performance management to take the chance to:
- honestly reflect about the last year: What was I proud of? What did I learn?
- ask yourself if you're happy and satisfied with what you do
- think about in which direction you want to develop and what you need
- communicate your ambitions and spread your message
You care about christmas? Then you should care about performance management, too!
Might sound weird, but for me it's like a wishlist for santa claus on which you always put on a bit too many items , knowing you can't have it all. And also knowing you only get if, if you behaved well.
So how do I do it?
First: think about how you want to grow personally and professionally on areas:
- LEARN (e.g. formal trainings)
- DO (e.g. focus on a topic, work abroad, business development)
- TRY (e.g. working conditions such as home office, workation)
- HELP (e.g. support charity work of your organization)
Second: understand how your ambitions support the business. It's a two way street. What you want, has to be line with the short and long-term business strategy. If it's not the case cross it out on your list.
Third: make yourself, your managers and coworkers accountable. If you spread your message people will ask you how it's going.
If you still struggle with finding out what matters to you and how you can communicate it, check out my FREE weekly webinar to train your emotional intelligence skills. Why not signing up right now?