I remember my first performance feedback session. It was tough. I felt as though my insides had been ripped out. It can be tough for a young executive, lawyer or manager to face a tough feedback session. I suspect that a lot of feedback is justified on the basis that what is needed for young players is the “unvarnished truth”.

I believe this approach to employee feedback is wrong.

Another Picture of Performance Management

I want to paint another picture of performance feedback and management. I had another manager who would regularly “red pen” my work and give me feedback that I did not want to hear.  But two things always stood out. Firstly, he would never say something was wrong without saying how it could be done better. Secondly, we always had a beer or coffee afterwards. I always felt that I was supported, and the business and I were on the same side. Performance feedback was tough, but it was always done so that I could do better and work smarter - for my benefit and not just for the business.  As a result, I would have walked through a lion’s cage for my manager (metaphorically) because I always knew he had my back.

I think this is the lesson of performance feedback and performance management generally.

Most staff want to do the best job they can, and they want to know if there are issues with their work. At the same time, employees have a deep need to feel that their manager has their back and is on their side.

Performance feedback is not about sugar coating. Nor is it about tearing shreds off staff members. It is about how an organisation wants an employee to do better so that the employee can grow professionally within an organisation that values them.

Manage Performance Early and with a Goal in Mind

So often as an employment lawyer and HR Business Partner, I am asked to advise on performance management when an employer is looking to manage an employee out of the business. By then things are too late.

The Key to High Performance

Early and proactive performance feedback with a dose of real support provides the very real option of developing and maintaining strong relationships with staff and high performance.

This approach will more often than not be consistent with employment legal frameworks applying to private and public sector employers, and duties to eliminate risks to health and safety in the workplace. 

Further information / assistance regarding the issues raised in this article is available from the author Brian Jackson, Special Counsel (Workplace Relations and Safety), or any of our experienced lawyers from our National Workplace Team.