…then nobody is.

Yes, The Incredibles got it right.

A speaker at last week’s Talent Management Asia 2018 conference in Manila raised this point, and it sparked a lot of conversation and note-scribbling across the audience.

One of the most important things you do as a leader is provide performance feedback. At the same time, one of the hardest things you do as a leader is provide performance feedback. It’s important because your employees need to know what they’re doing well and know where they need to grow so your organization can grow, but it’s hard because people often only want to talk about the first part, not the second. As a result, everyone sounds like the best, even though not everyone can be. In individual feedback discussions, you need to honestly let people know how they are doing, whether the news is good or bad.

What happens when you aren’t willing to differentiate between your strong performers and your poor performers? Well…

Your poor performers never get better. If people never know where they need to improve, then they don’t make the improvements they need. You’ll never get the full potential from your people if you don’t push them to do better when they should. They are also likely to get frustrated when they see poor results even though they think they’re doing great personally. Either they get confused about why they aren’t getting better results, or they start to blame others. In either case, you’re liable to see less engagement along with poor performance.

Your high performers get resentful. People who are doing well generally know they are doing well, and if they feel that’s not appreciated, it turns them off. If you’re putting a lot of effort into your job so you can turn in a great result, and someone else is just doing the minimum, you’re liable to get a bit put off when you both get patted on the back and told, “Good job.” If they feel like they aren’t appreciated in this job, they may just go find another one where they are.

We often hear around Asia that, “In this part of the world, we try to avoid conflict, or making others feel bad,” but you know what? That’s common in many parts of the world, not just in Asian cultures. Feedback about improvement is often seen as a negative; the trick is to make it positive and reduce the potential for an argument. Consider:

• The Sandwich Technique The idea is simple: start a discussion with something they are doing well, then address areas for improvement, then finish with something positive. People either love this concept or they hate it, and let’s be honest, your employees are liable to see through it, but it does ensure a positive message emerges in the conversation.
• Using measurable KPIs Start with the target they were supposed to hit, then work backwards to figure out why they did or didn’t hit them. Having objective targets at the center of your discussion helps avoid the subjectivity that makes arguments more likely. It also allows them to see more clearly the impact of their role on the business, and that’s important for strong employee engagement.
• Focusing on the future The main purpose of performance discussions is to improve future performance. Yes, we often use formal performance reviews for pay and promotion decisions, but ultimately your goal should be to boost their future capability. Try spending only a little time on the review of the past and the bulk of your time on the plans for the future, whether you want them to keep doing the same thing or try something new.
• Let them lead the discussion Very often, when you ask someone how they think they’re doing, you will get a very honest self-appraisal. Even if they don’t get into all the specifics, you can use their response as a starting point to raise other things that you need to raise. Don’t feel like you need to do all the talking; they will take it to heart more readily if they identify the positives and negatives themselves.

It’s up to you to help your employees be the best they can be, and you do them no favors by lumping them all together. Be sure to differentiate between your stronger performers and your weaker ones, or the weaker ones will never become stronger.

By the way, Incredibles 2 comes out later this year. We can’t wait to see what leadership gems they have for us in the sequel.

(Designing Leaders offers a workshop on improving your performance feedback skills. Making sure your formal and informal feedback actually helps improve future performance is an important way to boost your employees’ business value.)