Ready, Steady, Get Set Up For Year End Conversations

Christina Anthony, Director, Head of Talent Development Asia Pacific, Cushman & Wakefield

It’s that time of the year again, the annual performance review. So many of us fear it, are under prepared and expect the worse outcomes. The fear is even deeper for people managers. You start scheduling these conversations not quite sure where they might go, hopefully you’ll remember what your team did over the year and come up with some pearls of wisdom to keep them going or try to be the gentle admonishing mom that hopes they’d do better in the future. How about the really difficult conversation where you have to put an employee on a performance improvement program – hello HR.

The year end conversation doesn’t have to be that traumatic, here’s 3 ways you can become more confident as a people manager to have them

No 1 Be Prepared

This seems like rather logical but with the daily grind and competing deadlines, you might get to a point where you are scrambling to pull together a list to praise or redirect your employee. Consider starting a document on Teams where you and your employee add information as you go along the year. Make it simple – have two columns, Wins and Lessons. At the end of the year this list will serve as a great reference point for a more meaningful conversation

"Invite your employee to share their thoughts; I often use the Start, Stop, Continue framework. This format encourages two-way communication, which reduces the tension that year-end conversations typically generate and, as a bonus, may lead to an innovative approach"

No 2 Be Conversational

This is your time to thank your employee by sharing exact examples of how their work has helped you, the team and the company achieve its many goals. As you discuss, invite your employee to share their thoughts as well, I often use the Start, Stop, Continue framework. What’s one thing they would like to start, things they would like to stop and what they would like to continue. This format creates a two-way dialog reducing the tension year end conversation usually generate and as a bonus might lead to innovating a new approach

No 3 Be Brave

Sometimes we need the year end conversation to deliver some difficult messages. Be brave and remember to always be kind as well. How can you be kind? Be specific, sharing an example of a situation, resulting in the behaviour which had an impact. For example, the team was under the pump to deliver a report to the customer, which you provided quickly but not accurately, this resulted in a less than optimal experience from the customer and a loss of integrity on our team. While your speed was appreciated, your accuracy should never be compromised. When you are specific helping your employee to understand the impact of their behaviour, this will help them to rethink their approach.

Finally, as you get ready for these conversations, consider the power your word have on your employees mental wellbeing. Ensure you set up the meeting well in advance, share a simple agenda and before you start, check if they are ready for the conversation. These simple acts of preparedness go a long way in helping to achieve better outcomes. Many say that the year end conversation is so last century, to this I say, if you don’t provide the guideposts through feedback to your employees to reach their destination, how will they get there on time, on target, safe and engaged?

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