Key Elements of a Great Performance Review

Performance reviews shouldn’t feel like a surprise attack. They should build trust. Clarify expectations. Support growth. But too often? They leave people confused or deflated. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s what happens when emotionally intelligent leaders get it right 👇 It’s a two-way conversation, not a monologue ↳ One-sided reviews undermine trust and overlook valuable insights. ❌ Avoid saying: “Here’s how you did this year...” ✔️ Consider saying: “Before I share my feedback, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how this year went—the wins and the challenges.” It starts with strengths, highlighting achievements ↳ Emphasizing strengths fosters safety and enhances openness to feedback. ❌ Avoid saying: “First, let’s address the areas needing improvement. ” ✔️ Consider saying: “Let’s begin with what’s working. You’ve had a strong impact in [XYZ area].” It names emotions without making it personal ↳ Emotions are important, but feedback concentrates on behaviors, not character. ❌ Avoid saying: “You were quite challenging to collaborate with on this project.” ✔️Consider saying: “There were a few moments that caused frustration for the team—can we discuss how we might approach that differently together?” It balances necessary candor with care ↳ Candor fosters personal growth, while care encourages openness to embrace that growth. ❌ Avoid saying: “This is probably not a strength of yours.” ✔️ Consider saying: “This area fell short of expectations, and I know you can achieve more. Let’s discuss what would assist us moving forward.” It includes future-forward coaching ↳ Reviews should focus on growth rather than merely reviewing the past. ❌ Avoid saying: “There’s not much more to say. I think you know where I stand on your performance. Let’s see how the next quarter goes.” ✔️Consider saying: “Let’s discuss what’s next—what goals you’re excited about and how I can support your development.” It reflects active listening for deeper understanding ↳ People share more when they feel understood ❌ Avoid saying: “I already know how you’re going to respond—we don’t need to rehash that.” ✔️Consider saying: “Can you share more about your experience with the [XYZ] project? I want to ensure I’m not overlooking anything.” It ends with alignment and encouragement ↳ The conclusion of a review should create clarity and momentum, not confusion or hesitation. ❌ Avoid saying: “I suppose you should just keep working on it.” ✔️Consider saying: “I feel like we are on the same page, and I’m committed to supporting you at every turn." ✨ That’s the kind of review that builds trust, ownership, and momentum. What’s a phrase you’ve heard—or used—that made a performance review feel like a real conversation? Drop it in the comments 👇 *** ♻️ Re-post or share so others can lead more effectively 🔔 Turn on notifications for my latest posts 🤓 Follow me at Scott J. Allen, Ph.D. for daily content on leadership 📌 Design by Bela Jevtovic

In my 18 years at Amazon, I've seen more careers transformed by the next 2 weeks than by the other 50 weeks of the year combined. It's performance review season. Most people rush through it like a chore, seeing it as an interruption to their "real work." The smartest people I know do the opposite: they treat these upcoming weeks as their highest-leverage opportunity of the year. After handling over fifty feedback requests, self-reviews, and upward feedback 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 for nearly two decades, I've learned this isn't just another corporate exercise. This is when careers pivot, accelerate, or stall. Your feedback directly impacts compensation, career trajectories, and professional growth. Your self-assessment frames how leadership views your entire year's work. This isn't busywork—it's career-defining work, but we treat it with as much enthusiasm as taking out trash. Here's how to make the most of it: 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 - Ask yourself: "What perspective am I uniquely positioned to share?" Everyone will comment on the obvious wins and challenges. Your job is to provide insights others miss, making your feedback instantly invaluable. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀 - I keep a living document for every person I work with. When something feedback-worthy happens—good or challenging—it goes in immediately. No more scrambling to remember projects from months ago. This ensures specific, timely examples when needed. 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 - Don't just list tasks—craft a narrative. Lead with behaviors that drove impact. Show your growth in handling complex situations, influencing across teams, and making difficult trade-offs. Demonstrate self-awareness by acknowledging areas where you're actively improving. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 - They receive little feedback all year. Focus on how they help you succeed and specific ways they could support you better. Make it dense with information—this might be their only chance to learn how to serve their team better. 𝗢𝗻 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - The difference between criticism and valuable input is showing you genuinely want the other person to succeed. When that intention shines through, you don't need to walk on eggshells. Be specific about the behavior, its impact, and how it could improve. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 - Good constructive feedback often feels like an insult at first. But here's the mindset shift that changed everything for me: feedback is a gift. It's direct guidance on improvement from those who work closest with you. When you feel that defensive instinct rise, pause and focus on understanding instead. Here's your challenge: This year, treat performance review season like the most important work you'll do. Because in terms of long-term impact on careers—both yours and others'—it just might be.

Rethinking Performance Reviews: From Ratings to Impact What if we stopped assigning performance ratings and instead started recognizing performance by its impact? Employers: If you are embracing a performance model rooted in continuous feedback and want to develop a growth-oriented culture, consider using “Degree of Impact” as your metric. "Degree of Impact" measures the scope, significance, and sustainability of an employee's contributions across four dimensions: 1.       Business Outcomes – Driving team and organization results 2.       Customer Value – Improving customer results, experience, and satisfaction 3.       Team Success – Collaborating to elevate others and their results 4.       Enabling Others – Coaching, mentoring, and sharing tools as well as knowledge Instead of a static rating scale, we assess outcomes in terms of Low, Medium, or High Impact: Low Impact - Definition: Contributions are consistent with role expectations but have a localized or short-term effect. Indicators: (a) Completed assigned tasks reliably (b) Minimal innovation or change driven by employee (c) Supported team members occasionally (d) No measurable change in business or customer outcomes Medium Impact - Definition: Contributions moderately exceed role expectations and affect broader team or process outcomes. Indicators: (a) Initiated improvements or solved moderate challenges (b) Enhanced efficiency or quality in a repeatable way (c) Regularly assisted peers or improved team dynamics (d) Helped retain customers or improved customer feedback High Impact - Definition: Contributions significantly exceed role expectations, drives lasting change or substantial business/customer success. Indicators: (a) Led major initiatives or innovations (b) Directly contributed to revenue growth, cost savings, or major customer wins (c) Elevated team performance through mentoring, coaching, or creating reusable resources/tools (d) Role-modeled feedback and improvement culture; helped multiple others succeed This model shifts the focus to fueling high performance broadly. It gives leaders better insight into who’s creating real, scalable, and sustainable value. It can also be linked to compensation and career growth: Base pay increases and bonuses reflect the level of impact, not just tenure or task completion. This approach helps build a culture of ownership, growth, recognition, and continuous improvement. Are you using something similar in your organization? #Compensation #CareerDevelopment #HR #TotalRewards #PerformanceManagement #ContinuousFeedback #PeopleFirst #CompensationConsultant #TalentManagement https://shorturl.at/0BeN4

Personality Traits Don’t Belong in Performance Reviews Performance reviews should focus on skills, outcomes, and behaviors—not personality traits. An article by Suzanne Lucas for Inc. Magazine highlights a troubling finding from Textio: ✅ 88% of high-performing women receive feedback on their personality compared to only 12% of men. When men do get personality-related feedback, the descriptions differ significantly: Women: "Collaborative," "nice," or "abrasive" Men: "Confident," "ambitious" This disconnect reflects stereotypes that don’t help anyone grow. What NOT to do in performance reviews: ❌ Describe someone as "introverted" (personality-based language). ❌ Focus on general traits like "nice" or "helpful" without linking them to outcomes. What TO do instead: ✅ Address observable behaviors and impact: Instead of: "You're too quiet." Say: "I noticed you didn’t contribute in meetings; your ideas could add value if shared." ✅ Focus on outcomes: Highlight measurable results, goals, and areas for development tied to skills. ✅ Offer actionable feedback: Provide steps to improve performance, like asking someone to prepare discussion points to engage more actively. By focusing on behaviors, outcomes, and skills, reviews can help employees grow without reinforcing unhelpful biases. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gWTeTw5a What do you think? How does this impact women of color? How can we improve feedback processes to create fairer, more -actionable- reviews? #LeadershipDevelopment #PerformanceManagement #InclusiveLeadership