July 1, 2025 • 44 mins
Over the last several episodes, we have outlined 1) how best to write powerful reviews and 2) how to define results oriented action plans. Now, we'll revisit how best to give and receive feedback that will align you and your team member(s) to elevate ones success.
In this high-impact encore episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch, executive coach powerhouse trainer, Bernadette Boas, pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to give and receive performance feedback that drives results—not resentment.
Whether you’re a seasoned executive, HR professional, or a corporate manager navigating your first review cycle, this episode offers a bold new approach to turning feedback into a year-round leadership advantage.
🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How to reframe feedback as a gift, not a threat
- Why most performance reviews fail—and how to make yours matter
- A simple framework (SBI: Situation, Behavior, Impact) to deliver impactful feedback
- How to prepare for reviews with clarity, confidence, and collaboration
- Powerful tips to eliminate vagueness, bias, and blind spots in your evaluations
- The #1 mindset shift you need before entering any feedback conversation
- How to transform reviews into continuous career development conversations
💡 Bonus: Bernadette also shares her top coaching tips on how to ask more questions than you make statements, build trust through transparency, and create a feedback culture that fuels team performance—not fear.
If you’re ready to ditch the anxiety and master performance reviews that actually matter—this encore episode is your playbook.
Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you stream.
Check out episodes: From Performance Reviews to Action Plans to Results, and Power Plays for Writing Powerful Performance Reviews.
➡️ Subscribe and share it with fellow leaders who are ready to lead with intention.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What if I told you that mastering both giving and
receiving performance reviewscould be the key to unlocking
your career potential?
Welcome to Shedding theCorporate Bitch.
I'm Bernadette Bowes, and weare cutting through the
corporate noise and getting realabout the strategies that drive
success.
Today, we're breaking downperformance reviews the good,
(00:23):
the bad and the game-changing.
Together.
We'll discover how to giveconstructive, honest feedback
without demotivating your team,and how to receive feedback
without feeling dispensive ordiscouraged.
And, lastly, how to turn aonce-a-year or mid-year,
end-to-end-of-year process intoa year-round strategy, because
(00:45):
it's imperative that we look atcritical feedback as a gift, as
a way for us to tap in to ourstrengths, our weaknesses and
our blind spots that could bepropelling us forward but also
holding us back.
And, at the same time, there'stremendous benefit for managers
and employees, in that it reallyincreases trust and
(01:09):
communication between theleaders and their employees as
well, clarifies career paths andopportunities for professional
development.
Lastly, creates a stronger,more engaged and high-performing
team.
So, whether you're a manager,hr leader or the employee,
you'll walk away with a simpleframework for delivering
(01:30):
meaningful feedback andstrategies to transform feedback
positive or negative intoaction and learn how to use
performance reviews as a tool toelevate your career, because
the first thing I want you towalk away with is to embrace the
fact that feedback is a gift.
Now be sure to follow,subscribe and like the show, so
(01:53):
you and your colleagues can takepart each week in becoming the
powerhouse leader you're meantto be.
Check us out on any one of yourpodcast streaming services and
on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Welcome to Shedding the Corporate Bitch, the podcast
that transforms today'smanagers.
Check us out on any one of yourpodcast streaming services and
on YouTube, when, more than 25years in corporate trenches,
Bernadette's own journey frombeing dismissed as a tyrant boss
to becoming a sought-afterleadership coach and speaker
illustrates the very essence oftransformation that she now
inspires in others with her tips, strategies and stories.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So if you're ready to shed the bitches of fear and
insecurity, ditch the impostersyndrome and step into the role
of the powerhouse leader youwere born to be.
This podcast is for you.
Let's do this.
Performance reviews they'redreaded by many, they are
embraced by few, but they'recritical and necessary for
everyone.
So today we're going to getinto just how to master giving
and receiving feedback toelevate your skills, your people
skills, your career paths andthe leadership impact that
(03:10):
you're having on those aroundyou, no matter what level of the
organization that you're in.
And so why are performancereviews so critical?
Well, because they provide younot only a recap of what your
goals were and how you operatedagainst those goals, but, more
so, they provide you the insightthat you need in order to see
(03:34):
the experience you're creatingfor others around you, the
perception they have of you as aworker, as a person, as a
leader, as a contributor to thebusiness, to their team, to the
project at hand.
And, at the same time, itreally provides you an
opportunity to think throughwhat it is that you want to be
(03:58):
achieving in your career, whathelp you need, what support you
need, and then laying it out soboth your manager understands
exactly where you feel you arein your development and your
achievement of your goals, butalso where you want to go as far
(04:18):
as your career path, while atthe same time, it gives your
manager that opportunity to say,all right, so that's your plan
and that's your assessment ofhow you performed this past year
.
Let me shed some light on that,or let me shed some reality on
that, because many of us don'thave a really clear, honest view
(04:42):
on how are we showing up, howare we contributing to the
business, how are we addingvalue, how are we impacting
those around us?
And, at the same time,performance reviews gives you an
opportunity to really breakdown the old misconception that
(05:03):
performance reviews are just acheck off on a list or it's just
a formality in a businessenvironment.
Instead, what the performancereview process should also
really ensure that it'smessaging is that this is a
career development tool, this isa leadership growth tool.
(05:26):
This is a gift of you gettingthe feedback that's needed.
So performance reviews, orbasically just critical feedback
, really needs to be looked atas something that you welcome
and that you seek out, evenproactively, outside the formal
(05:49):
beginning of year, mid-year typeof performance review process.
Now, as a leadership andexecutive coach before, during
and after the performance reviewprocess.
My clients certainly bring metheir concerns, the challenges
that they're having, theopportunities that they're
(06:10):
looking for, the construction ofthe communication that they
want to message during theirreview process, whether that's
as part of the writtenperformance review or it's the
post where they've receivedtheir final rating.
They've received their finalfeedback from their manager and
(06:30):
now they want to kind ofconstruct any type of response
or any type of collaborationwith their manager when they do
finally sit down and have anopportunity to go through it and
have a dialogue, have acollaboration, because that's
what performance reviews need tobe.
(06:51):
It's not the manager tellingemployee how they're doing or
how they're not doing.
It's a collaboration tounderstand what they were tasked
to do, what they've done, whatchallenges or opportunities
presented themselves throughoutthe time period, what support
and help do they need, whatcareer change or opportunities
(07:16):
in their career path are therefor them, so forth and so on.
It should be a two-waycollaboration and not just a
one-directional telling ormaking statements to an employee
, and that's why it's socritical to understand what it
really takes to give feedbackand then, on the flip side,
(07:42):
receive it, because every one ofus, no matter what level of an
organization we're in.
Every one of us receivesfeedback from someone and
therefore it's really importantthat if you're a manager, you
need to be able to receive itand, in the same vein, give it
in such a way that youremployees are also receiving it
(08:04):
in a constructive, motivating,supportive way, because that's
how you should be also receivingit from your own managers.
And what you want to be carefulof is setting an example or
modeling, not being open toreceiving feedback inside a
(08:27):
performance review process oroutside performance review
process.
As a manager, as a peoplemanager, you need to be modeling
that you are open to feedback,no matter what kind of feedback
it is, and that you are going tobe considerate of whatever that
feedback is.
And then you're going to ask alot of questions and so forth
(08:48):
and so on, and we'll get intothat in a minute.
But there are many challengesthat are created in the
performance review processsimply because individuals, even
the leaders, let alone theemployees, have a challenge with
(09:09):
both giving and receiving.
Let's look at giving feedback.
Some of them is that theystruggle to really strike that
balance between being upfront,forthright and honest while at
the same time, encouraging.
So, say, you have a employeewho is a high producer, a great
(09:35):
contributor to the team, but hassome kind of soft skill or
personal behavior issues thatyou certainly need addressed.
At the same time, you don'twant to discourage them away
from really utilizing theirtalents and the skills and the
expertise that they bring totheir job.
So one of the challenges that Iencounter with many of my
(09:59):
leader clients is them beingable to have that conversation,
highlight those strengths,highlight those areas where they
really bring great value to theteam and to the organization,
while at the same timeaddressing any areas that need
to be course corrected.
(10:21):
And so one of the big areasthat managers want to focus on
is how do you strike a balancebetween being upfront and honest
and transparent regarding one'sperformance, while also being
very encouraging, verymotivating, very inspiring to
them so they don't getdiscouraged?
(10:42):
The other one would also be andthis definitely will take some
internal self-assessment andself-digging, or what I call
self-excavating but that wouldbe to really ensure that you are
avoiding any type of biases orunfairness in the process.
(11:04):
What do I mean by that?
Well, if you have a biastowards someone, or if you, as a
manager, you know someone'sjust created issues for you or
you just don't relate to someoneon your team and that's a
struggle and you just haven'tfigured out how to engage with
this individual in a veryeffective, productive way and
(11:26):
therefore, even subconsciously,you have this bias or this angst
toward them and you go intotheir performance review
carrying that.
Even in the process of youevaluating them, you brought
that with you and it altered orinfluenced the overall
(11:46):
performance review of youremployee.
So you really want to be sureto self-assess any biases, any
prejudgments, any perceptionsyou have of a team member and
make sure that your evaluationis free from any of that coming
in and influencing how youactually assess your employee.
(12:11):
Of course, we're always lookingfor the feedback to be not only
constructive and motivating andencouraging, but specific and
detailed.
Too often, far too often, thefeedback provided is very vague,
is very general, doesn't reallyprovide great detail or
specifics or examples orillustrations of the feedback
(12:36):
being given, good or bad.
So here are your strengths.
Here are some examples of youleveraging those strengths.
Here are areas you need to workon or areas that others have
stated you know are workingagainst you in your role.
Here are specific examples,illustrations, scenarios.
(12:57):
The last incident that occurredto ensure that the individual
receiving it can then putcontext to your feedback.
And yet too often I'll belooking over a performance
review, whether that's post themanager writing it or prior to
(13:19):
the employee responding to it,and I'll see that it's extremely
vague, it's extremely general,it doesn't provide meaningful
context for the employee toreally understand and go back to
that particular situation tosee what worked or didn't work
(13:41):
and therefore what needs to bechanged or not need to be
changed.
So you really want to ensure,when giving, that you are
providing details, specifics,examples, the actual scenario
that occurred when it came toyou, evaluating them on a
particular behavior or trade orquality or skill.
(14:04):
And if you don't and can'tprovide it, then you might have
to consider not giving it orseek out feedback from others to
put some context around it.
And I want you to think abouthow would you feel if someone
said to you you're not being ateam player.
Without anything beyond that,your communication is being
(14:31):
received in a very negative way.
So you know you're given thisinformation, but without any
context.
How can you fully understandwhat needs to change, what's
working or not working?
What experience or result orimpact did you have on those
(14:53):
individuals.
You need to ensure that you'regetting specifics.
Now I'm going to diverge forjust a minute because one tip I
want to provide managers orthose giving feedback feedback.
(15:15):
The one strategy I tell myclients to use is, throughout
the year, have a notebook whereyou can document successes and
areas of misstep for youremployees, where you can notate.
This situation happened, thiswas the result, this was the
impact, and it happened on thisdate with these individuals
(15:37):
involved.
Whatever the case might be, itdoesn't have to be a long you
know story.
It just needs to, you know,take tidbits of information to
where.
Then you can use thatimmediately to talk with the
employee or, if it will carryover, you know, three months,
six months down the line, intothe performance reviews.
(15:57):
You have specifics to provide.
You don't want to leave youremployees more confused and more
discouraged and more uncertainabout how to shift, how to take
action, how to transformsomething, if you don't provide
them context.
Okay, now, as far as receivingyour performance reviews, some
(16:18):
of the challenges that I comeacross with clients is, even
before they get theirperformance review, they're
extremely anxious, they'reextremely nervous, they're
extremely defensive, they'reextremely discouraged about what
it is that they're going toreceive back.
Long before they actually sitdown and or receive their review
(16:43):
, they are already preparing fora fight.
Preparing for a fight, andthat's certainly not what you
want your team of employees tofeel going into a process of
getting feedback.
And so, if it is a culturalissue within the organization,
(17:06):
if it is a cultural issue withinyour team, if it's a lack of
communication of the value ofperformance reviews, slash
feedback then you may consider,as a leader, you may want to
consider messaging and creatinga communication plan that is
shared with your organization,organization, throughout the
(17:27):
year, as to the value and thegift that feedback is, so to
minimize that anxiety, thatstress, that defensiveness.
And again, I want you to alwaysput yourself in the other shoe.
I want you to be consideringthe fact that you know how do
(17:47):
you feel when it comes toperformance review time, not
just writing them out so you cangive them, but also as the
person who's going to bereceiving one, because, again,
everyone gets a review.
So how do you even experiencethe process of receiving
(18:09):
feedback and recognize that, ifyou are a manager, team members
on your team are probablyfeeling the same way and
therefore, if there is a needfor a cultural shift as to how
performance review slashfeedback is perceived.
Then step up, be the leader andshare that with those that can
(18:33):
influence that change, influencethat transformation as far as
how performance reviews areviewed throughout the
organization.
The last one, from a challengeperspective, when receiving, is
you receive feedback that youweren't expecting.
And this could go both ways.
(18:54):
This could go with you receivepositive feedback in regards to
things that you just reallynever thought anybody paid
attention to and you weren'texpecting it.
But, more anxiously foremployees, they receive feedback
that they weren't expecting.
That is negative, that isso-called requiring disciplinary
(19:17):
action, requiring behavioralchange, requiring a shift in
attitude.
And you say to yourself well,why would that happen?
Well, that happens far toooften because if someone is
adverse to confrontation, isadverse to giving critical, hard
feedback, then they most likelyavoided having those
(19:42):
conversations with an employeethroughout the years or
throughout the time periodbetween performance reviews and
managers.
All I can say to you is that isso unfair to your employees and
again put yourself in theirshoes.
Would you want that to happento you from your manager?
(20:07):
Would you want them to avoidhaving a conversation with you
and then suddenly bringing it upin what is also very formal and
very documented, so to speak.
You just want to be sure thatyour employees are not surprised
by anything that's going into aperformance review Because,
(20:29):
good or bad, you've had plentyof time to share with them what
your perception is, what yourexperience is, what your
feedback is.
If you want to prevent any realchallenges, any of that anxiety
or stress or discouragement byyour employees, be sure that
you're educating yourself on howto give feedback employees.
(20:52):
Be sure that you're educatingyourself on how to give feedback
.
So I mentioned earlier thebenefits of both receiving and
giving feedback.
But let's kind of get into it alittle bit more so we can
really ground ourselves in thereal value of performance
reviews, the real value ofgaining feedback throughout the
year, consistently, regularly,let alone formally, in the
(21:13):
performance review process.
So for managers and leaders,when it comes to performance
reviews, it really is aboutstrengthening your team.
You want to use the performancereview process to really ensure
that your team members,individually and collectively,
and develop and expand into avery productive, very high value
(21:57):
contributing individual to thenthe team as a collective and
then, as each of the teammembers are gaining this
information and this supportfrom you, then it's just
creating a much more cohesive,much more productive, much more
successful team and, of course,it really ensures that, as you
(22:20):
do collaborate and engage andcommunicate with them, that's
just helping to build trust, tobuild loyalty, to build a desire
to really connect and engageand do whatever's necessary in
order to achieve the goals thatyou've set out for them
individually and them as a team.
(22:41):
So, managers and leaders, ifyou need to work on yourself as
far as how do you give veryimpactful, motivating,
encouraging feedback and get thetraining, get the support, and
don't even hesitate to reach out.
And, you know, even let me helpyou with a 30-minute discussion
(23:04):
to share some tips andstrategies you can be using
against what you share with meas far as the steps you do take
currently when it comes togiving feedback and when it
comes to giving performancereviews.
And now for the employees theemployees are gaining clarity,
they're gaining understanding,they're gaining the perceptions
(23:28):
others have of them and theexperience others have with them
, whether that's team members,you as a manager, or those
customers or support groups thatthey engage with.
They're gaining the clarity ontheir strengths, on their areas
for development, on their blindspots, on the skills that are
(23:48):
needed or the skills that theyshould be leveraging more and
more.
They're gaining all of thatclarity and all of that
understanding, so it helps themto become more confident, more
secure, even with thediscussions on areas for
improvement.
That communication, thatopenness, that transparency,
(24:11):
that honesty that you're havingwith them is greatly appreciated
and then valued to where theywant to go and put a plan
together where they can actuallyshift and really have a nice
trajectory in their growth andin their skill development.
And then, of course, it reallydemonstrates for them that you
(24:33):
have a nice trajectory in theirgrowth and in their skill
development.
And then, of course, it reallydemonstrates for them that you
have a commitment to theirgrowth.
You have a commitment to, andrespect them to where you are
going to be open and honest andforthright and transparent in
regards to their performance.
There are so many benefits thatwe could go on and on and on,
but let's get into somestrategies that you could be
(24:57):
using to both give and then alsoreceive feedback to where you
do view it as a gift and assomething that's very valuable,
constructive and critical to thebusiness growth, as well as
your career growth and your teammembers' career growth.
The first one is definitelygoing to be preparation.
(25:20):
Now, the situations I see in agreat many of my clients and
organizations that I work withis that the performance review
timeline pops up and now it's arace to get it all done, and
there's often kind of twocategories of individuals
(25:42):
managers who are going to begiving feedback.
There are those who are goingto plan it out, timeline it out,
make sure that they put thetime and the effort into doing
it and getting it done in aproductive way before the
deadline, and then there'sothers who wait to the last
minute and then find themselvesrushing to get it done and
(26:05):
therefore they're extremelyvague in general and they're
creating the type of challengesthat we've already discussed.
And so one critical takeaway Iwould love for you to understand
and to support is to ensurethat you are preparing each
(26:27):
individual's performance reviewin a very proactive, very
productive, very intentional way, because, again, they deserve
the feedback, they deserve thedetails, the specifics, the
examples, the scenarios, andthey deserve the opportunity to
discuss it and collaborate on itand to ask questions and to
(26:50):
even answer any questions, andthat really, for many, many of
my clients, really requiresplanning, planning for the time
that it's going to take toactually craft a very productive
performance review, or even, ifit's going to be a sudden last
(27:12):
minute type of critical feedbacksession, the preparation, the
planning, the scheduling, thejust overall documenting of the
performance review.
It's really important to reallyhave that all laid out and
planned out so you can do iteffectively.
So, to break that down a littlebit further, we all know that
(27:36):
the performance review period isalways coming at the beginning
of the year and mid-year.
Knowing that you can right now,weeks, months ahead of time,
you can lay it out on yourcalendar, block the time that
it's going to be necessary basedon the number of employees you
have, and make sure that you'reyou know, proactively scheduling
(28:01):
, slash, planning for theperformance review process.
At the same time, when it comesto being thoughtful, the time
you're going to devote to eachof your employees, you can also,
very early on, get thoseblocked out and those planned,
whether it's on your calendaritself or it's even with your
(28:24):
employee.
Now, another challenge I shouldhave mentioned earlier that just
came up as I was sharing thatis the worst thing you could do
as a manager that will turn offand really discourage your
employee is to rush theirperformance review, rushed just
(28:46):
in the documenting of it.
But too, too often I findmanagers or it's typically the
employees come to me and sharewith me what happened with their
performance review, and whatthey'll share is well, we only
got to talk about it for 15 or20 minutes because they had to
go or because we didn't.
It wasn't planned for asufficient amount of time.
(29:08):
That is inexcusable and itshould be perceived as that.
As a manager, as a leader, youneed to ensure that you're
giving the time to your employeeboth to share your input but
also to understand any feedbackthat they may have, any
(29:30):
questions that they may have,any disagreements or
clarifications that are neededwhenever the case might be.
It's your job to ensure thatthey have the time from you to
have a very thorough and veryproductive and effective
performance review.
So get that preparation laid out, get that preparation done and,
(29:54):
while you're at it, just makenote too that you want to be
documenting, you want to becapturing actual scenarios and
examples and illustrations asthe year goes that then you will
have that you can pull out anduse for someone's performance
review when you do formally sitdown to write it up, all right.
(30:17):
The next one would be, then,really focusing on how you're
going to deliver the message,whatever that message might be.
It could be a fabulous reviewand everything's going to be
glowing, but yet I can guaranteeyou your employees are still
going to have questions for you.
They're still going to come upwith things that you may not
(30:43):
have captured and highlighted aspart of their review, wrapped
up in a very pretty bow.
You want to be prepared to, andgive the time to, ensure that
they have what they need by thetime that that conversation is
over and they sign that document, and that they're left with all
the answers to the questionsthat they have and or they're
(31:07):
clear on any of the ambiguity orconfusion they might have had
coming into it.
Prepare as to how you're goingto give the feedback, no matter
what it is.
Now Think about the SBIframework, which is a simple
three-step model that you canuse when it comes to giving
(31:28):
feedback of any kind SBI orsituation behavior impact really
just means you want to approacha conversation good or bad,
easy or hard.
You want to provide theframework of here's the
situation as a result of thebehavior that was created by you
(31:48):
or others as a result of thissituation and here's the impact
that it had on you and othersaround.
So you want to break down andprepare that conversation of any
kind with stating the situationthat you want to talk about,
the behavior that was attributedto that situation or took away
(32:12):
from that situation, and thenthe impact that that situation
and behavior created At anypoint.
You want to use this model it'sthat simple to really think
about what is the situation thatI want to have a conversation
about, what is the behavior thatwas created by the individual
or those around and what was theimpact of it.
And you can break down anoverall performance review in
(32:38):
categories of that performancereview using that same
three-step model each onesituation, behavior, impact or
the performance review as awhole.
And as a result of having thatmodel to kind of frame your
conversation on, you can alsostructure it to where you give
(32:59):
praise, to open it up, to leteveryone's guard down.
So you want to balance thepraise with any type of area for
improvement that needs to beshared.
And I would kick off with thepraise.
Here are all the great thingsyou're doing, while you then get
into, but we need to reallytalk about these other behaviors
(33:21):
that need to change and come upwith a plan together as far as
how you can shift them.
Okay, and then, of course, ingiving, you want to ensure that,
if there are anything thatneeds to be changed, needs to be
shifted, needs to transform,needs to be developed, that you
(33:42):
don't leave that discussionwithout an action plan, because,
again, you want your employeeto walk away very clear, very
certain, feeling, confident that, regardless of the feedback
that you gave them, there'ssupport, there's a plan and even
a follow through as far ashelping them get where you need
(34:06):
them to go.
Now, a third strategy would bethat you really want to ensure
that you are creating a two-waydialogue.
As I mentioned earlier,performance reviews or
constructive feedback is not aone-way street.
I don't care how tumultuous orhow critical the feedback is.
It still has to be a two-wayconversation.
(34:28):
You still have to go in free ofbiases, free of prejudgments,
and this is a learningopportunity for you to also
receive feedback as far as whatthe real situation is, what the
real behavior is, what the realimpact is, and therefore you
(34:52):
really want to be askingopen-ended questions to them.
Do not make statements.
I say that a lot.
Ask questions, don't makestatements, because you want to
learn what is going on insidesomeone's head.
Why are they doing what they'redoing or why, you know, are
they not leveraging what theyshould be leveraging because of
their strengths?
You want to really get underthe covers of an employee in
(35:17):
order best to understand how tosupport them, how to motivate
them, how to encourage them, howto even help them to be
developed, how to course correctthem, how to shift them, so
open-ended questions that theythen can share what's going on
for them.
And then, of course, this isgoing to require you to create a
(35:37):
safe space.
You need to create anenvironment where they actually
are willing to let their guardsdown, get rid of the
defensiveness and the anxietyand the stress, and be
completely open and transparentand collaborative with you,
because creating a safe space isall about trust.
(35:58):
And so, throughout the year,throughout the life cycle of
your relationship with anemployee, you need to be
building that trust and thatlevel of engagement and
collaboration with them.
So then, when there does comethe time for both of you to be
(36:22):
very open, very transparent,very candid, they feel safe to
do that, that they don'tquestion being retaliated
against or being disciplined orin some way, it coming back and
hurting them in any way, shapeor form.
And then, of course because, aswe mentioned earlier, you want
to set those clear action plansby the time the conversation is
(36:45):
over, then make that commitmentto them that there will be
follow-up, there will be kind ofa pull-through of conversations
to ensure that they are gettingthe support, the training, the
development, the attention thatthey need in order to make the
changes that you're asking themto make, or even to be able to
pursue and achieve the attentionthat they need in order to make
the changes that you're askingthem to make, or even to be able
(37:06):
to pursue and achieve the goalsthat you're giving them.
And they feel very confidentand supported in that.
Okay, now let's look at it as ifwe're the ones receiving
feedback and again, we want tomake sure that we're not, you
know, defensive and anxious andstressed out.
Instead, it's up to us, asindividuals, to put our mindset
(37:29):
into a place that is open, thatis willing to receive, that is
willing to listen, to learn, toask questions, to consider
what's being told to us, andthen even willingness to make
the changes necessary.
So, as you walk into aperformance review or a
(37:49):
situation of feedback of anykind, you want to ensure that
you're in a good space mentally,physically, emotionally,
spiritually to where you're opento a dialogue of conversation,
because if not, then itimmediately becomes a one-way
street.
If you walk in all defensiveand all stressed out and angst
(38:12):
up, then that's just going toshut down the other person that
you're talking with, and so youwant to no matter if you're the
reason for this conversation oryou're the one impacted by the
situation you want to ensurethat you're open to really
hearing and considering andviewing the feedback as
(38:34):
something that is going to beconstructive, productive and a
gift to ensure that you aregrowing and developing and
advancing in skills and in youroverall leadership.
Then the other one would be toreceivers of feedback always
(38:57):
need to be prepared withquestions to ask, with questions
to ask, not only questions toask about the actual performance
review itself, which is a lookbackwards.
What I really like aboutperformance review is it gives
you the opportunity to lookforward.
Okay, this is what happenedgood, bad or ugly but yet I want
(39:18):
to focus on what is needed aswe go forward, and so be sure
that you are preparingopen-ended questions, questions
that will give you that clarityand that confidence and that
energy and that support thatyou're looking for.
Anytime you have an opportunityto sit down with your manager,
what you need to do is look atthe opportunities as clarifying
(39:43):
discussions.
So this is the situation, thisis the behavior, this is the
impact, and anything that you'reconfused about or you're not
clear on, or there'sdisagreement or there's
misunderstanding.
You wanna get those cleared upand that's the only approach
that you need to be taking withit.
Okay, and then, of course, ifneed be and in a lot of cases
(40:05):
it's necessary I also recommendis if you need to sit there and
take notes and you know kind ofidentify, you know things that
you need to do next, or anaction plan that you're, you
know, wanting support on fromyour manager, make sure that
you're taking those notes andyou're documenting that.
If they're giving you any typeof specific feedback areas for
(40:27):
improvement, next steps, makesure that you're capturing those
.
I would even suggest that, onceyou capture them, you actually
send it back to them after thesession and confer with them
your understanding and what youcaptured in your notes, just so,
again, you can be signed offand very clear as to not only
(40:48):
what that discussion was about,but also what were those next
steps that were discussed.
And from those next steps sothere's key takeaways or action
plans formalize it into newgoals for yourself as you move
forward.
So, if you were given things todo from a personal development,
(41:08):
leadership development, skilldevelopment, communication
development, then finalize thatinto a new set of goals for
yourself.
That will ensure that you notonly pursue it, but you achieve
it and you complete it by thetime the next performance review
comes around.
That way, both you and yourmanager are both on board with
(41:33):
what was discussed.
What was the plan put intoplace and what was the goals or
the measurements that they thenare going to use to assess your
success in achieving or makingthe changes that were discussed.
Performance reviews do not haveto be a struggle.
I want to leave you with achallenge.
I want you to really thinkabout your last performance
(41:56):
review, even just the process asa whole.
What worked, what didn't work,what would you change?
How can you improve it, notonly in the process itself, but
more so, how you approached it,how you prepared for it, how you
handled it, and both as areceiver and as a giver.
And remember, put yourself intheir shoes.
(42:19):
When it does come to being areceiver, how is it you want
feedback to be given to you?
How is it you want the supportto be provided?
How do you want the two of youcoming together to make it a
very effective and productiveprocess, and work toward
(42:42):
implementing that the next timearound, and you will find that
you are making it a gift to notonly the receiver but also to
yourself as the giver.
All right Performance reviewsare critical and so necessary
for all of us to really grow anddevelop in our roles and in our
(43:03):
persons, and so do what you canto eliminate any of the
challenges or any of thenegative perceptions of feedback
and turn it into a realvaluable tool that will help you
be the powerhouse leader you'remeant to be.
And if you are challenged inany way when it comes to giving
(43:25):
or receiving, then be sure toreach out to me and let's have a
30-minute conversation.
Let me understand where you'reat right now and provide you
some tips and strategies you canstart implementing, not only in
the formal performance reviewprocess, but all year round when
you do have to give criticalfeedback.
Let me help you craft andstructure the feedback in such a
(43:49):
way that it is received veryopenly and very graciously
colleagues, or even youremployees, and help them to
understand how they can mastergiving and receiving feedback
for great success in their workand in their life.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
I'll see you soon.
Thank you for tuning intotoday's episode of Shedding the
Corporate Bitch.
Every journey taken together isanother step towards unleashing
the powerhouse leader withinyou.
Don't miss any of our weeklyepisodes.
Subscribe to our podcast onApple Podcasts, spotify or
wherever you love to listen.
And, for those who thrive onvisual content, catch us on our
Shedding the Bitch YouTubechannel.
(44:32):
Want to dive deeper withBernadette on becoming a
powerhouse leader?
Visit balloffirecoachingcom tolearn more about how she helps
professionals, hr executives andteam leaders elevate overall
team performance.
You've been listening toShedding the Corporate Bitch
with Bernadette Boas.
Until next time, keep shedding,keep growing and keep leading.
What if I told you that mastering both giving and
receiving performance reviewscould be the key to unlocking
your career potential?
Welcome to Shedding theCorporate Bitch.
I'm Bernadette Bowes, and weare cutting through the
corporate noise and getting realabout the strategies that drive
success.
Today, we're breaking downperformance reviews the good,
(00:23):
the bad and the game-changing.
Together.
We'll discover how to giveconstructive, honest feedback
without demotivating your team,and how to receive feedback
without feeling dispensive ordiscouraged.
And, lastly, how to turn aonce-a-year or mid-year,
end-to-end-of-year process intoa year-round strategy, because
(00:45):
it's imperative that we look atcritical feedback as a gift, as
a way for us to tap in to ourstrengths, our weaknesses and
our blind spots that could bepropelling us forward but also
holding us back.
And, at the same time, there'stremendous benefit for managers
and employees, in that it reallyincreases trust and
(01:09):
communication between theleaders and their employees as
well, clarifies career paths andopportunities for professional
development.
Lastly, creates a stronger,more engaged and high-performing
team.
So, whether you're a manager,hr leader or the employee,
you'll walk away with a simpleframework for delivering
(01:30):
meaningful feedback andstrategies to transform feedback
positive or negative intoaction and learn how to use
performance reviews as a tool toelevate your career, because
the first thing I want you towalk away with is to embrace the
fact that feedback is a gift.
Now be sure to follow,subscribe and like the show, so
(01:53):
you and your colleagues can takepart each week in becoming the
powerhouse leader you're meantto be.
Check us out on any one of yourpodcast streaming services and
on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Welcome to Shedding the Corporate Bitch, the podcast
that transforms today'smanagers.
Check us out on any one of yourpodcast streaming services and
on YouTube, when, more than 25years in corporate trenches,
Bernadette's own journey frombeing dismissed as a tyrant boss
to becoming a sought-afterleadership coach and speaker
illustrates the very essence oftransformation that she now
inspires in others with her tips, strategies and stories.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
So if you're ready to shed the bitches of fear and
insecurity, ditch the impostersyndrome and step into the role
of the powerhouse leader youwere born to be.
This podcast is for you.
Let's do this.
Performance reviews they'redreaded by many, they are
embraced by few, but they'recritical and necessary for
everyone.
So today we're going to getinto just how to master giving
and receiving feedback toelevate your skills, your people
skills, your career paths andthe leadership impact that
(03:10):
you're having on those aroundyou, no matter what level of the
organization that you're in.
And so why are performancereviews so critical?
Well, because they provide younot only a recap of what your
goals were and how you operatedagainst those goals, but, more
so, they provide you the insightthat you need in order to see
(03:34):
the experience you're creatingfor others around you, the
perception they have of you as aworker, as a person, as a
leader, as a contributor to thebusiness, to their team, to the
project at hand.
And, at the same time, itreally provides you an
opportunity to think throughwhat it is that you want to be
(03:58):
achieving in your career, whathelp you need, what support you
need, and then laying it out soboth your manager understands
exactly where you feel you arein your development and your
achievement of your goals, butalso where you want to go as far
(04:18):
as your career path, while atthe same time, it gives your
manager that opportunity to say,all right, so that's your plan
and that's your assessment ofhow you performed this past year
.
Let me shed some light on that,or let me shed some reality on
that, because many of us don'thave a really clear, honest view
(04:42):
on how are we showing up, howare we contributing to the
business, how are we addingvalue, how are we impacting
those around us?
And, at the same time,performance reviews gives you an
opportunity to really breakdown the old misconception that
(05:03):
performance reviews are just acheck off on a list or it's just
a formality in a businessenvironment.
Instead, what the performancereview process should also
really ensure that it'smessaging is that this is a
career development tool, this isa leadership growth tool.
(05:26):
This is a gift of you gettingthe feedback that's needed.
So performance reviews, orbasically just critical feedback
, really needs to be looked atas something that you welcome
and that you seek out, evenproactively, outside the formal
(05:49):
beginning of year, mid-year typeof performance review process.
Now, as a leadership andexecutive coach before, during
and after the performance reviewprocess.
My clients certainly bring metheir concerns, the challenges
that they're having, theopportunities that they're
(06:10):
looking for, the construction ofthe communication that they
want to message during theirreview process, whether that's
as part of the writtenperformance review or it's the
post where they've receivedtheir final rating.
They've received their finalfeedback from their manager and
(06:30):
now they want to kind ofconstruct any type of response
or any type of collaborationwith their manager when they do
finally sit down and have anopportunity to go through it and
have a dialogue, have acollaboration, because that's
what performance reviews need tobe.
(06:51):
It's not the manager tellingemployee how they're doing or
how they're not doing.
It's a collaboration tounderstand what they were tasked
to do, what they've done, whatchallenges or opportunities
presented themselves throughoutthe time period, what support
and help do they need, whatcareer change or opportunities
(07:16):
in their career path are therefor them, so forth and so on.
It should be a two-waycollaboration and not just a
one-directional telling ormaking statements to an employee
, and that's why it's socritical to understand what it
really takes to give feedbackand then, on the flip side,
(07:42):
receive it, because every one ofus, no matter what level of an
organization we're in.
Every one of us receivesfeedback from someone and
therefore it's really importantthat if you're a manager, you
need to be able to receive itand, in the same vein, give it
in such a way that youremployees are also receiving it
(08:04):
in a constructive, motivating,supportive way, because that's
how you should be also receivingit from your own managers.
And what you want to be carefulof is setting an example or
modeling, not being open toreceiving feedback inside a
(08:27):
performance review process oroutside performance review
process.
As a manager, as a peoplemanager, you need to be modeling
that you are open to feedback,no matter what kind of feedback
it is, and that you are going tobe considerate of whatever that
feedback is.
And then you're going to ask alot of questions and so forth
(08:48):
and so on, and we'll get intothat in a minute.
But there are many challengesthat are created in the
performance review processsimply because individuals, even
the leaders, let alone theemployees, have a challenge with
(09:09):
both giving and receiving.
Let's look at giving feedback.
Some of them is that theystruggle to really strike that
balance between being upfront,forthright and honest while at
the same time, encouraging.
So, say, you have a employeewho is a high producer, a great
(09:35):
contributor to the team, but hassome kind of soft skill or
personal behavior issues thatyou certainly need addressed.
At the same time, you don'twant to discourage them away
from really utilizing theirtalents and the skills and the
expertise that they bring totheir job.
So one of the challenges that Iencounter with many of my
(09:59):
leader clients is them beingable to have that conversation,
highlight those strengths,highlight those areas where they
really bring great value to theteam and to the organization,
while at the same timeaddressing any areas that need
to be course corrected.
(10:21):
And so one of the big areasthat managers want to focus on
is how do you strike a balancebetween being upfront and honest
and transparent regarding one'sperformance, while also being
very encouraging, verymotivating, very inspiring to
them so they don't getdiscouraged?
(10:42):
The other one would also be andthis definitely will take some
internal self-assessment andself-digging, or what I call
self-excavating but that wouldbe to really ensure that you are
avoiding any type of biases orunfairness in the process.
(11:04):
What do I mean by that?
Well, if you have a biastowards someone, or if you, as a
manager, you know someone'sjust created issues for you or
you just don't relate to someoneon your team and that's a
struggle and you just haven'tfigured out how to engage with
this individual in a veryeffective, productive way and
(11:26):
therefore, even subconsciously,you have this bias or this angst
toward them and you go intotheir performance review
carrying that.
Even in the process of youevaluating them, you brought
that with you and it altered orinfluenced the overall
(11:46):
performance review of youremployee.
So you really want to be sureto self-assess any biases, any
prejudgments, any perceptionsyou have of a team member and
make sure that your evaluationis free from any of that coming
in and influencing how youactually assess your employee.
(12:11):
Of course, we're always lookingfor the feedback to be not only
constructive and motivating andencouraging, but specific and
detailed.
Too often, far too often, thefeedback provided is very vague,
is very general, doesn't reallyprovide great detail or
specifics or examples orillustrations of the feedback
(12:36):
being given, good or bad.
So here are your strengths.
Here are some examples of youleveraging those strengths.
Here are areas you need to workon or areas that others have
stated you know are workingagainst you in your role.
Here are specific examples,illustrations, scenarios.
(12:57):
The last incident that occurredto ensure that the individual
receiving it can then putcontext to your feedback.
And yet too often I'll belooking over a performance
review, whether that's post themanager writing it or prior to
(13:19):
the employee responding to it,and I'll see that it's extremely
vague, it's extremely general,it doesn't provide meaningful
context for the employee toreally understand and go back to
that particular situation tosee what worked or didn't work
(13:41):
and therefore what needs to bechanged or not need to be
changed.
So you really want to ensure,when giving, that you are
providing details, specifics,examples, the actual scenario
that occurred when it came toyou, evaluating them on a
particular behavior or trade orquality or skill.
(14:04):
And if you don't and can'tprovide it, then you might have
to consider not giving it orseek out feedback from others to
put some context around it.
And I want you to think abouthow would you feel if someone
said to you you're not being ateam player.
Without anything beyond that,your communication is being
(14:31):
received in a very negative way.
So you know you're given thisinformation, but without any
context.
How can you fully understandwhat needs to change, what's
working or not working?
What experience or result orimpact did you have on those
(14:53):
individuals.
You need to ensure that you'regetting specifics.
Now I'm going to diverge forjust a minute because one tip I
want to provide managers orthose giving feedback feedback.
(15:15):
The one strategy I tell myclients to use is, throughout
the year, have a notebook whereyou can document successes and
areas of misstep for youremployees, where you can notate.
This situation happened, thiswas the result, this was the
impact, and it happened on thisdate with these individuals
(15:37):
involved.
Whatever the case might be, itdoesn't have to be a long you
know story.
It just needs to, you know,take tidbits of information to
where.
Then you can use thatimmediately to talk with the
employee or, if it will carryover, you know, three months,
six months down the line, intothe performance reviews.
(15:57):
You have specifics to provide.
You don't want to leave youremployees more confused and more
discouraged and more uncertainabout how to shift, how to take
action, how to transformsomething, if you don't provide
them context.
Okay, now, as far as receivingyour performance reviews, some
(16:18):
of the challenges that I comeacross with clients is, even
before they get theirperformance review, they're
extremely anxious, they'reextremely nervous, they're
extremely defensive, they'reextremely discouraged about what
it is that they're going toreceive back.
Long before they actually sitdown and or receive their review
(16:43):
, they are already preparing fora fight.
Preparing for a fight, andthat's certainly not what you
want your team of employees tofeel going into a process of
getting feedback.
And so, if it is a culturalissue within the organization,
(17:06):
if it is a cultural issue withinyour team, if it's a lack of
communication of the value ofperformance reviews, slash
feedback then you may consider,as a leader, you may want to
consider messaging and creatinga communication plan that is
shared with your organization,organization, throughout the
(17:27):
year, as to the value and thegift that feedback is, so to
minimize that anxiety, thatstress, that defensiveness.
And again, I want you to alwaysput yourself in the other shoe.
I want you to be consideringthe fact that you know how do
(17:47):
you feel when it comes toperformance review time, not
just writing them out so you cangive them, but also as the
person who's going to bereceiving one, because, again,
everyone gets a review.
So how do you even experiencethe process of receiving
(18:09):
feedback and recognize that, ifyou are a manager, team members
on your team are probablyfeeling the same way and
therefore, if there is a needfor a cultural shift as to how
performance review slashfeedback is perceived.
Then step up, be the leader andshare that with those that can
(18:33):
influence that change, influencethat transformation as far as
how performance reviews areviewed throughout the
organization.
The last one, from a challengeperspective, when receiving, is
you receive feedback that youweren't expecting.
And this could go both ways.
(18:54):
This could go with you receivepositive feedback in regards to
things that you just reallynever thought anybody paid
attention to and you weren'texpecting it.
But, more anxiously foremployees, they receive feedback
that they weren't expecting.
That is negative, that isso-called requiring disciplinary
(19:17):
action, requiring behavioralchange, requiring a shift in
attitude.
And you say to yourself well,why would that happen?
Well, that happens far toooften because if someone is
adverse to confrontation, isadverse to giving critical, hard
feedback, then they most likelyavoided having those
(19:42):
conversations with an employeethroughout the years or
throughout the time periodbetween performance reviews and
managers.
All I can say to you is that isso unfair to your employees and
again put yourself in theirshoes.
Would you want that to happento you from your manager?
(20:07):
Would you want them to avoidhaving a conversation with you
and then suddenly bringing it upin what is also very formal and
very documented, so to speak.
You just want to be sure thatyour employees are not surprised
by anything that's going into aperformance review Because,
(20:29):
good or bad, you've had plentyof time to share with them what
your perception is, what yourexperience is, what your
feedback is.
If you want to prevent any realchallenges, any of that anxiety
or stress or discouragement byyour employees, be sure that
you're educating yourself on howto give feedback employees.
(20:52):
Be sure that you're educatingyourself on how to give feedback
.
So I mentioned earlier thebenefits of both receiving and
giving feedback.
But let's kind of get into it alittle bit more so we can
really ground ourselves in thereal value of performance
reviews, the real value ofgaining feedback throughout the
year, consistently, regularly,let alone formally, in the
(21:13):
performance review process.
So for managers and leaders,when it comes to performance
reviews, it really is aboutstrengthening your team.
You want to use the performancereview process to really ensure
that your team members,individually and collectively,
and develop and expand into avery productive, very high value
(21:57):
contributing individual to thenthe team as a collective and
then, as each of the teammembers are gaining this
information and this supportfrom you, then it's just
creating a much more cohesive,much more productive, much more
successful team and, of course,it really ensures that, as you
(22:20):
do collaborate and engage andcommunicate with them, that's
just helping to build trust, tobuild loyalty, to build a desire
to really connect and engageand do whatever's necessary in
order to achieve the goals thatyou've set out for them
individually and them as a team.
(22:41):
So, managers and leaders, ifyou need to work on yourself as
far as how do you give veryimpactful, motivating,
encouraging feedback and get thetraining, get the support, and
don't even hesitate to reach out.
And, you know, even let me helpyou with a 30-minute discussion
(23:04):
to share some tips andstrategies you can be using
against what you share with meas far as the steps you do take
currently when it comes togiving feedback and when it
comes to giving performancereviews.
And now for the employees theemployees are gaining clarity,
they're gaining understanding,they're gaining the perceptions
(23:28):
others have of them and theexperience others have with them
, whether that's team members,you as a manager, or those
customers or support groups thatthey engage with.
They're gaining the clarity ontheir strengths, on their areas
for development, on their blindspots, on the skills that are
(23:48):
needed or the skills that theyshould be leveraging more and
more.
They're gaining all of thatclarity and all of that
understanding, so it helps themto become more confident, more
secure, even with thediscussions on areas for
improvement.
That communication, thatopenness, that transparency,
(24:11):
that honesty that you're havingwith them is greatly appreciated
and then valued to where theywant to go and put a plan
together where they can actuallyshift and really have a nice
trajectory in their growth andin their skill development.
And then, of course, it reallydemonstrates for them that you
(24:33):
have a nice trajectory in theirgrowth and in their skill
development.
And then, of course, it reallydemonstrates for them that you
have a commitment to theirgrowth.
You have a commitment to, andrespect them to where you are
going to be open and honest andforthright and transparent in
regards to their performance.
There are so many benefits thatwe could go on and on and on,
but let's get into somestrategies that you could be
(24:57):
using to both give and then alsoreceive feedback to where you
do view it as a gift and assomething that's very valuable,
constructive and critical to thebusiness growth, as well as
your career growth and your teammembers' career growth.
The first one is definitelygoing to be preparation.
(25:20):
Now, the situations I see in agreat many of my clients and
organizations that I work withis that the performance review
timeline pops up and now it's arace to get it all done, and
there's often kind of twocategories of individuals
(25:42):
managers who are going to begiving feedback.
There are those who are goingto plan it out, timeline it out,
make sure that they put thetime and the effort into doing
it and getting it done in aproductive way before the
deadline, and then there'sothers who wait to the last
minute and then find themselvesrushing to get it done and
(26:05):
therefore they're extremelyvague in general and they're
creating the type of challengesthat we've already discussed.
And so one critical takeaway Iwould love for you to understand
and to support is to ensurethat you are preparing each
(26:27):
individual's performance reviewin a very proactive, very
productive, very intentional way, because, again, they deserve
the feedback, they deserve thedetails, the specifics, the
examples, the scenarios, andthey deserve the opportunity to
discuss it and collaborate on itand to ask questions and to
(26:50):
even answer any questions, andthat really, for many, many of
my clients, really requiresplanning, planning for the time
that it's going to take toactually craft a very productive
performance review, or even, ifit's going to be a sudden last
(27:12):
minute type of critical feedbacksession, the preparation, the
planning, the scheduling, thejust overall documenting of the
performance review.
It's really important to reallyhave that all laid out and
planned out so you can do iteffectively.
So, to break that down a littlebit further, we all know that
(27:36):
the performance review period isalways coming at the beginning
of the year and mid-year.
Knowing that you can right now,weeks, months ahead of time,
you can lay it out on yourcalendar, block the time that
it's going to be necessary basedon the number of employees you
have, and make sure that you'reyou know, proactively scheduling
(28:01):
, slash, planning for theperformance review process.
At the same time, when it comesto being thoughtful, the time
you're going to devote to eachof your employees, you can also,
very early on, get thoseblocked out and those planned,
whether it's on your calendaritself or it's even with your
(28:24):
employee.
Now, another challenge I shouldhave mentioned earlier that just
came up as I was sharing thatis the worst thing you could do
as a manager that will turn offand really discourage your
employee is to rush theirperformance review, rushed just
(28:46):
in the documenting of it.
But too, too often I findmanagers or it's typically the
employees come to me and sharewith me what happened with their
performance review, and whatthey'll share is well, we only
got to talk about it for 15 or20 minutes because they had to
go or because we didn't.
It wasn't planned for asufficient amount of time.
(29:08):
That is inexcusable and itshould be perceived as that.
As a manager, as a leader, youneed to ensure that you're
giving the time to your employeeboth to share your input but
also to understand any feedbackthat they may have, any
(29:30):
questions that they may have,any disagreements or
clarifications that are neededwhenever the case might be.
It's your job to ensure thatthey have the time from you to
have a very thorough and veryproductive and effective
performance review.
So get that preparation laid out, get that preparation done and,
(29:54):
while you're at it, just makenote too that you want to be
documenting, you want to becapturing actual scenarios and
examples and illustrations asthe year goes that then you will
have that you can pull out anduse for someone's performance
review when you do formally sitdown to write it up, all right.
(30:17):
The next one would be, then,really focusing on how you're
going to deliver the message,whatever that message might be.
It could be a fabulous reviewand everything's going to be
glowing, but yet I can guaranteeyou your employees are still
going to have questions for you.
They're still going to come upwith things that you may not
(30:43):
have captured and highlighted aspart of their review, wrapped
up in a very pretty bow.
You want to be prepared to, andgive the time to, ensure that
they have what they need by thetime that that conversation is
over and they sign that document, and that they're left with all
the answers to the questionsthat they have and or they're
(31:07):
clear on any of the ambiguity orconfusion they might have had
coming into it.
Prepare as to how you're goingto give the feedback, no matter
what it is.
Now Think about the SBIframework, which is a simple
three-step model that you canuse when it comes to giving
(31:28):
feedback of any kind SBI orsituation behavior impact really
just means you want to approacha conversation good or bad,
easy or hard.
You want to provide theframework of here's the
situation as a result of thebehavior that was created by you
(31:48):
or others as a result of thissituation and here's the impact
that it had on you and othersaround.
So you want to break down andprepare that conversation of any
kind with stating the situationthat you want to talk about,
the behavior that was attributedto that situation or took away
(32:12):
from that situation, and thenthe impact that that situation
and behavior created At anypoint.
You want to use this model it'sthat simple to really think
about what is the situation thatI want to have a conversation
about, what is the behavior thatwas created by the individual
or those around and what was theimpact of it.
And you can break down anoverall performance review in
(32:38):
categories of that performancereview using that same
three-step model each onesituation, behavior, impact or
the performance review as awhole.
And as a result of having thatmodel to kind of frame your
conversation on, you can alsostructure it to where you give
(32:59):
praise, to open it up, to leteveryone's guard down.
So you want to balance thepraise with any type of area for
improvement that needs to beshared.
And I would kick off with thepraise.
Here are all the great thingsyou're doing, while you then get
into, but we need to reallytalk about these other behaviors
(33:21):
that need to change and come upwith a plan together as far as
how you can shift them.
Okay, and then, of course, ingiving, you want to ensure that,
if there are anything thatneeds to be changed, needs to be
shifted, needs to transform,needs to be developed, that you
(33:42):
don't leave that discussionwithout an action plan, because,
again, you want your employeeto walk away very clear, very
certain, feeling, confident that, regardless of the feedback
that you gave them, there'ssupport, there's a plan and even
a follow through as far ashelping them get where you need
(34:06):
them to go.
Now, a third strategy would bethat you really want to ensure
that you are creating a two-waydialogue.
As I mentioned earlier,performance reviews or
constructive feedback is not aone-way street.
I don't care how tumultuous orhow critical the feedback is.
It still has to be a two-wayconversation.
(34:28):
You still have to go in free ofbiases, free of prejudgments,
and this is a learningopportunity for you to also
receive feedback as far as whatthe real situation is, what the
real behavior is, what the realimpact is, and therefore you
(34:52):
really want to be askingopen-ended questions to them.
Do not make statements.
I say that a lot.
Ask questions, don't makestatements, because you want to
learn what is going on insidesomeone's head.
Why are they doing what they'redoing or why, you know, are
they not leveraging what theyshould be leveraging because of
their strengths?
You want to really get underthe covers of an employee in
(35:17):
order best to understand how tosupport them, how to motivate
them, how to encourage them, howto even help them to be
developed, how to course correctthem, how to shift them, so
open-ended questions that theythen can share what's going on
for them.
And then, of course, this isgoing to require you to create a
(35:37):
safe space.
You need to create anenvironment where they actually
are willing to let their guardsdown, get rid of the
defensiveness and the anxietyand the stress, and be
completely open and transparentand collaborative with you,
because creating a safe space isall about trust.
(35:58):
And so, throughout the year,throughout the life cycle of
your relationship with anemployee, you need to be
building that trust and thatlevel of engagement and
collaboration with them.
So then, when there does comethe time for both of you to be
(36:22):
very open, very transparent,very candid, they feel safe to
do that, that they don'tquestion being retaliated
against or being disciplined orin some way, it coming back and
hurting them in any way, shapeor form.
And then, of course because, aswe mentioned earlier, you want
to set those clear action plansby the time the conversation is
(36:45):
over, then make that commitmentto them that there will be
follow-up, there will be kind ofa pull-through of conversations
to ensure that they are gettingthe support, the training, the
development, the attention thatthey need in order to make the
changes that you're asking themto make, or even to be able to
pursue and achieve the attentionthat they need in order to make
the changes that you're askingthem to make, or even to be able
(37:06):
to pursue and achieve the goalsthat you're giving them.
And they feel very confidentand supported in that.
Okay, now let's look at it as ifwe're the ones receiving
feedback and again, we want tomake sure that we're not, you
know, defensive and anxious andstressed out.
Instead, it's up to us, asindividuals, to put our mindset
(37:29):
into a place that is open, thatis willing to receive, that is
willing to listen, to learn, toask questions, to consider
what's being told to us, andthen even willingness to make
the changes necessary.
So, as you walk into aperformance review or a
(37:49):
situation of feedback of anykind, you want to ensure that
you're in a good space mentally,physically, emotionally,
spiritually to where you're opento a dialogue of conversation,
because if not, then itimmediately becomes a one-way
street.
If you walk in all defensiveand all stressed out and angst
(38:12):
up, then that's just going toshut down the other person that
you're talking with, and so youwant to no matter if you're the
reason for this conversation oryou're the one impacted by the
situation you want to ensurethat you're open to really
hearing and considering andviewing the feedback as
(38:34):
something that is going to beconstructive, productive and a
gift to ensure that you aregrowing and developing and
advancing in skills and in youroverall leadership.
Then the other one would be toreceivers of feedback always
(38:57):
need to be prepared withquestions to ask, with questions
to ask, not only questions toask about the actual performance
review itself, which is a lookbackwards.
What I really like aboutperformance review is it gives
you the opportunity to lookforward.
Okay, this is what happenedgood, bad or ugly but yet I want
(39:18):
to focus on what is needed aswe go forward, and so be sure
that you are preparingopen-ended questions, questions
that will give you that clarityand that confidence and that
energy and that support thatyou're looking for.
Anytime you have an opportunityto sit down with your manager,
what you need to do is look atthe opportunities as clarifying
(39:43):
discussions.
So this is the situation, thisis the behavior, this is the
impact, and anything that you'reconfused about or you're not
clear on, or there'sdisagreement or there's
misunderstanding.
You wanna get those cleared upand that's the only approach
that you need to be taking withit.
Okay, and then, of course, ifneed be and in a lot of cases
(40:05):
it's necessary I also recommendis if you need to sit there and
take notes and you know kind ofidentify, you know things that
you need to do next, or anaction plan that you're, you
know, wanting support on fromyour manager, make sure that
you're taking those notes andyou're documenting that.
If they're giving you any typeof specific feedback areas for
(40:27):
improvement, next steps, makesure that you're capturing those
.
I would even suggest that, onceyou capture them, you actually
send it back to them after thesession and confer with them
your understanding and what youcaptured in your notes, just so,
again, you can be signed offand very clear as to not only
(40:48):
what that discussion was about,but also what were those next
steps that were discussed.
And from those next steps sothere's key takeaways or action
plans formalize it into newgoals for yourself as you move
forward.
So, if you were given things todo from a personal development,
(41:08):
leadership development, skilldevelopment, communication
development, then finalize thatinto a new set of goals for
yourself.
That will ensure that you notonly pursue it, but you achieve
it and you complete it by thetime the next performance review
comes around.
That way, both you and yourmanager are both on board with
(41:33):
what was discussed.
What was the plan put intoplace and what was the goals or
the measurements that they thenare going to use to assess your
success in achieving or makingthe changes that were discussed.
Performance reviews do not haveto be a struggle.
I want to leave you with achallenge.
I want you to really thinkabout your last performance
(41:56):
review, even just the process asa whole.
What worked, what didn't work,what would you change?
How can you improve it, notonly in the process itself, but
more so, how you approached it,how you prepared for it, how you
handled it, and both as areceiver and as a giver.
And remember, put yourself intheir shoes.
(42:19):
When it does come to being areceiver, how is it you want
feedback to be given to you?
How is it you want the supportto be provided?
How do you want the two of youcoming together to make it a
very effective and productiveprocess, and work toward
(42:42):
implementing that the next timearound, and you will find that
you are making it a gift to notonly the receiver but also to
yourself as the giver.
All right Performance reviewsare critical and so necessary
for all of us to really grow anddevelop in our roles and in our
(43:03):
persons, and so do what you canto eliminate any of the
challenges or any of thenegative perceptions of feedback
and turn it into a realvaluable tool that will help you
be the powerhouse leader you'remeant to be.
And if you are challenged inany way when it comes to giving
(43:25):
or receiving, then be sure toreach out to me and let's have a
30-minute conversation.
Let me understand where you'reat right now and provide you
some tips and strategies you canstart implementing, not only in
the formal performance reviewprocess, but all year round when
you do have to give criticalfeedback.
Let me help you craft andstructure the feedback in such a
(43:49):
way that it is received veryopenly and very graciously
colleagues, or even youremployees, and help them to
understand how they can mastergiving and receiving feedback
for great success in their workand in their life.
Speaker 2 (44:12):
I'll see you soon.
Thank you for tuning intotoday's episode of Shedding the
Corporate Bitch.
Every journey taken together isanother step towards unleashing
the powerhouse leader withinyou.
Don't miss any of our weeklyepisodes.
Subscribe to our podcast onApple Podcasts, spotify or
wherever you love to listen.
And, for those who thrive onvisual content, catch us on our
Shedding the Bitch YouTubechannel.
(44:32):
Want to dive deeper withBernadette on becoming a
powerhouse leader?
Visit balloffirecoachingcom tolearn more about how she helps
professionals, hr executives andteam leaders elevate overall
team performance.
You've been listening toShedding the Corporate Bitch
with Bernadette Boas.
Until next time, keep shedding,keep growing and keep leading.
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