Years ago, I worked for a company that handled performance reviews in the typical, traditional way. Once a year, I sat down with my manager, heard some positive feedback about the work I had done, and received a small raise—just above cost of living.
The problem? Pretty much everyone received the same thing, including the person who never seemed to get the job done.
Effective? Not really.
Encouraging? Not especially.
Helpful to the employee who was struggling? Definitely not.
There Has to Be a Better Way
So, what is a more effective way to recognize, encourage, develop, and—when necessary—redirect your people?
At Horizon Point, we believe performance management works best when it isn’t treated as a once-a-year event. It should be an ongoing conversation.
That starts with some simple but important practices:
- Set clear expectations from the beginning. A good job description and clarity around responsibilities give employees a strong starting point.
- Give feedback regularly. Don’t save the good—or the difficult—for an annual review. Timely feedback gives employees the opportunity to learn, adjust, and grow.
- Talk about goals. Make space for conversations about where employees want to go and how their goals connect with the needs of the organization.
- Coach, don’t just evaluate. Ask questions, listen, and help employees think through challenges and opportunities rather than simply telling them what to do.
- Make development ongoing. Growth shouldn’t happen only when someone is struggling or ready for a promotion. It should be part of the employee experience.
Put It Into Practice
We’ve explored several of these ideas in previous Horizon Point posts. If you’re looking for practical ways to improve the conversations you’re having with employees, these are good places to start:
Lead Better: The Power of Values in Performance Management
Performance management isn’t only about goals and metrics. This post explores how values, expectations, feedback, coaching, and accountability work together. Two tools worth adding to your coaching toolbox are the SBI Model for feedback and the GROW framework for coaching conversations.
4 Ways to Get Unstuck with Professional Development
Development doesn’t always require another class or formal training program. Sometimes it begins with a better conversation. One tool we enjoy using is the One-on-Ones Box from Unstuck Box, which provides prompts that can help make those conversations more intentional.
Building Career Paths That Keep Your Best People
Career conversations shouldn’t end after the interview. Leaders can continue asking employees about their goals, interests, strengths, and next steps—and look for places where those aspirations intersect with organizational needs. Our Leaders as Career Agents (LACA) approach provides a structure for doing just that.
The Goal Isn’t a Better Annual Review
It’s a better relationship between leaders and employees.
Clear expectations. Regular feedback. Honest conversations. Meaningful development. Accountability when it’s needed. And an understanding of where the employee wants to go next.
When those things are happening throughout the year, the annual review becomes less of an event—and more of a continuation of conversations that are already taking place.
Three Books for Better Conversations
Want to strengthen those conversations even more? These are three resources we come back to often:
The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier — A practical guide to asking better questions so leaders can coach employees instead of immediately jumping in with answers.
Radical Candor by Kim Scott — A useful framework for combining genuine care for people with clear, direct feedback about performance.
Crucial Conversations — Practical tools for navigating the difficult, high-stakes conversations that are an inevitable part of leading and developing people.
The common thread? Better performance management isn’t really about the review form. It’s about equipping leaders to have better conversations—consistently, clearly, and with the development of both the employee and the organization in mind.
