Performance Feedback – FY14

FY14 Performance Appraisal

A quick and simple process for encouraging, challenging, and motivating your employees towards higher performance

Introduction

The manager-employee relationship is one of the most important relationships a person has in their life, directly impacting the employee’s motivation, morale, and effectiveness. In addition, this relationship has a direct impact on organizational productivity, profitability, customer satisfaction, and employee retention (Gallup, 1999; 2012). Although complex, the effectiveness of this relationship is in large part dependent on the effectiveness of manager-employee discussions about performance.

Performance discussions should be an ongoing activity; in an ideal world, feedback would be constant, consistent, and constructive (high in quantity and quality).We all recognize that the key to success with athletes and kids is to provide immediate, direct, targeted feedback. Great coaches don’t wait until the end of the game—or the season—to provide feedback on performance. The quality of the team is directly related to the quality of the feedback. However, in business, for some reason we have the tendency to wait until the end of the “season”, saving feedback for a once-a-year “formal” process. This is not effective!

At Nissan – The PMD process

The Performance Management and Development process at Nissan (PMD) is the global standard process to help managers improve the quantityandquality of manager-employee discussions about performance. Although performance feedback should occur constantly, the process providesfourstructured opportunities for managers to lead performance discussions: Objective Setting, Career Vision, Performance Appraisal, and Objective Appraisal (for EVP-4 & above employees).

Goal of Performance Appraisal & the Feedback Discussion

The goal of the Performance Appraisal process is to provide a structured process—set of leader behaviors—that improves the employee-manager relationship resulting in employees that are more efficient, effective, and engaged. Providing high quality and high quantity of performance feedback will make your life easier while maximizing Nissan’s opportunity for success. Performance feedback requires that the...

  1. Employee clearly understand the performance expectations of their job/role
  2. Employee has the opportunity to express their opinions concerning their performance
  3. Manager clearly communicates their perception of the employee’s performance
  4. Employee and Manager have basic agreement of performance (level-set perceptions)
  5. Employee to leave the appraisal session feeling motivated to better utilize those strengths and challenged to improve their weaknesses

Performance Appraisal is the process of communicating to employees your observations regardingtheir past behavior (what, why, how, results) in order to positively influence theirfutureperformance. It should be a end-of-year summary of all the performance discussions you have had throughout the year.

Employee Engagement & Performance Appraisals

People primarily leave BOSSES not jobs or companies. Manager behavior is the most significant factor influencing employee behavior such as performance, engagement, and amount of effort expended. Providing quality feedback requires no budget, but does require a commitment of time.

We all know people who have left really good jobs—not because of the actual work load, the hours, or their co-workers—because their manager did not take the time to provide them basic feedback on how they were doing in the job.

Often the best employees receive the least amount of feedback. In the long run, it is the manager who suffers, because high-performing employees seek out other departments/companies where their basic needs are being met (high-performing employees have a low tolerance for ineffective or no feedback, while low-performers prefer receiving no feedback).

Research reveals...

The number one reason given for leaving a job is a “bad boss”.
The top four reasons people leave their job/boss:
1) They don’t feel appreciated .
2) Concern with the way their bosstreats peoples.
3) Lack of feedback, or only negative feedback.
4) Ineffective, generic, &/or non-helpful performance feedback.
Buckingham, (1999). First Break All The Rules and Rath & Clifton (2004). How Full Is Your Bucket? Gallup Press

Three Critical Behaviors for Effective Appraisals

  1. Rate employees based on clearly Defined Expectations
  2. Input comments based on SMART Observations
  3. PrepareEmployees for feedback
  1. Define Expectations
  1. Identify and prioritize the most critical elements required for “outstanding” (mindsets, actions, additional factors) performance
  2. Critical elements to consider
  3. NISSAN WAY Mindsets & Actions
  4. Additional Factors
  5. PMD Objectives / Hoshin Kanri Objectives
  6. Focus most of your time and energy on those areas that are most critical to “outstanding” performance (even though you need to rate/address all areas)
  7. Emphasize performance strengths as much or more than weaknesses

The first step in Defining Expectations involves identifying and prioritizing. It is important that you identify and prioritize, because you have a limited amount of time to spend with each employee (40-60 minutes), so you must intentionally focus the majority of your time on the most critical areas that have the strongest influence on ‘outstanding’ performance. The feedback process also provides an excellent opportunity to start the discussion around objective setting (clarify expectations) for FY15.

The employee should not be hearing about role/job expectations, standards, or criteria for the first time during the Performance Appraisal feedback; there should be no surprises for the employee. Likewise, you should always evaluate an employee’s performance against an objective standard, and not compare them to other employees.

Two Parts to the Performance Appraisal
  1. Objective Appraisal(what was accomplished)
  2. Performance Appraisal(how things were done)
Although these two processes may be viewed as separate processes or events, it is important to incorporate the employee’s performance on their objectives(what) into the Performance Appraisal discussion (how).
Why: It is difficult to discuss how things were done without addressing what was done (outcomes & results).
How: Review employee objectives and identify which Mindset and Action each objective would fall under. Their performance on those objectives can provide behavioral examples to support your ratings.
  1. Define role-specific examples of “outstanding” behavior
  2. Tailor the global description of NW Mindsets/Actions to reflect an ideal standard for the employee’s specific role
  3. Items should differentiate between employees that Meet Expectations and those that are Outstanding
  4. Focus your observations on behaviors vs. traits (personality, etc.)

The second step in Defining Expectations involves defining role-specific examples of ‘outstanding’ or ‘ideal’ behavior. It is important that you take the time to translate, tailor, and/or customize theMindset/Action into a description that gives the employee a clear ‘picture’ of what ideal/outstanding behavior looks/sounds like for their unique role. If you can’t define or describe it, you can’t measure it, and if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

The description you develop should clearly differentiate your average from your outstanding performers (clearly separate poor, average, and superior performers). Likewise, avoid descriptions that focus on ‘minimum’ job requirements and avoid standards based on traits, personality characteristics, or personal attributes (focus on behavior).

Remember, you don’t have time to talk about everything in detail, so focus your time on those areas most critical to ‘outstanding’ performance (both strengths and weaknesses) and those areas where the manager and employee perceptions of performance differ greatly.

Notes:
  1. Input Comments based on SMART Observations

C.Observe and evaluate employee behavior

  1. Focus on critical areas needed for success
  2. Focus on behaviors vs. traits (personality attributes)
  3. Focus on the observable and measurable
  4. Focus on behaviors that are changeable
  5. Focus on both strengths and weaknesses

When observing or evaluating behavior, make sure the behavior is something you have seen someone do or have heard them say.Be cautious if you haven’t personally seen or heard the behavior that occurred. Observations should be SMART: (Specific/measurable, Motivating, Attainable/Aligned, Relevant, & Trackable/Timebound).

Avoid comments not phrased to focus on improving performance, but are phrased to critique or criticize the person; they aren’t productive.Avoid making comments personal, by comparing your observations of their behavior against the ‘ideal’ standard of behavior.
D.Translate observations into SMART behaviors

  • When comparing the employee’s behavior against the standard of outstanding, turn your observations of the employee’s behavior into SMART comments

Notes:

Once you’ve evaluated the behavior, determining possible root causes of outstanding or poor behavior, you are ready to translate your observations into information that will be useful in the feedback session

Examples

Trait / Behavior
  • Isn’t a leader...
  • Is flexible...

  • Is inconsistent...
  • Takes initiative...
/
  • Does not delegate tasks or make effective use of project team’s time. Ineffective in communicating with team, for example...
  • Was willing to take on 3 projects, instantly change priorities in May, & make 5 overnight trips at the last moment to meet the new objectives...
  • Some reports were polished, others had inaccurate or lacked key info., and contain misspellings; 4 key due-dates were missed on ____, specifically I observed....
  • Consistently took the initiative to

Your employees – identify a few ‘Traits’ of your employees and translate them into ‘Behaviors’

Trait / Behavior

SMARTBehaviors

  • Just like you’ve learned in setting SMART Objectives or Goals, you can use the same ‘formula’ to make your observations SMART

S / pecific & measurable – Are the expectations/‘ideal’ outcome clearly defined?
M / otivating – Will this energize the person or drain their energy?
A / ttainable – Is it possible to succeed? Are adequate resources available?
R / elevant – What priority is this task/goal? How does it contribute to results?
T / ackable & timebound – How will we assess & measure results?

SMART behaviors:

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Performance Feedback – FY14

  • are something you have seen someone do
  • are something you have heard them say
  • are things or actions that can be measured
  • contain action verbs
  • are end results, outcomes, achievements
  • infuse energy and increase motivation vs. drain energy
  • are realistic, reasonable, and attainable
  • align with department and organizational objectives
  • focus on important business results
  • contain clear, measurable deliverables
  • contain specific dates (start, end, & milestones)
  • are phrased to focus on improving performance, but are not phrased to criticize the person
  • have the best interests of the employee and Nissan in mind (vs. your own agenda/interests/emotions)
  • compare observed behavior against the ‘ideal’ standard

1

Performance Feedback – FY14

SMART Behaviors Worksheet

Behavior 1
SMART behavior statement / Behavior 2
SMART behavior statement / Behavior 3
SMART behavior statement / Behavior 4
SMART behavior statement
Observed what? / Observed what? / Observed what? / Observed what?
Specific details: / Specific details: / Specific details: / Specific details:
Measured by: / Measured by: / Measured by: / Measured by:
How Motivating? / How Motivating? / How Motivating? / How Motivating?
Attainable/Aligned: / Attainable/Aligned: / Attainable/Aligned: / Attainable/Aligned:
Relevant to? / Relevant to? / Relevant to? / Relevant to?
Track how?: / Track how?: / Track how?: / Track how?:
Timebound: / Timebound: / Timebound: / Timebound:
What next? / What next? / What next? / What next?

Performance Appraisal Rating Scale - Explanations and descriptions of each rating.

Outstanding
3.75 - 4.00 / 4.0 / Contribution is always outstanding.
3.75 / Contribution is outstanding 75% of the time.
Above Expectations
3.00 - 3.50 / 3.5 / Contribution is outstanding 50% of the time.
3.25 / Contribution is outstanding 25% of the time.
3.0 / Contribution always exceeds the expectations.
Meets Expectations
2.00 - 2.75 / 2.75 / Contribution exceeds expectations 75% of the time.
2.5 / Contribution exceeds expectations 50% of the time.
2.25 / Contribution exceeds expectations 25% of the time.
2.0 / Contribution always meets the expectations.
Below Expectations
1.00 - 1.75 / 1.75 / Contribution is below expectations 25% of the time.
1.5 / Contribution is below expectations 50% of the time.
1.25 / Contribution is below expectations 75% of the time.
1.0 / Contribution is always below expectations.
Notes:
  1. Preparing Employees for feedback

Preparing your employees to receive feedback will make every step in the process run much more effectively and smoothly. The first step is to meet with your employees and talk through the process and your “intent” in the process (your goal, objective, desired result, etc.).

In addition, several tools have been developed to assist you with this, including: 1) a sample email to schedule the feedback session, 2) an employee handout called “Employee – What to Expect”, and other tools for the manager. Have the employee complete the 30-minute pre-work prior to receiving your feedback. A short training workshop on providing Performance Feedback will be provided immediately before and during the feedback step.

You have the chance of ensuring ‘impactful’ feedback by better preparing the employee for the discussion. For your employee’s to be a better learner/listener we need to “set the stage” to ensure learning/listening can occur.

Why is preparing your employees for feedback important? For five reasons:

  1. Reduce Fear - Letting the employee know what is going to happen reduces much of their fear/apprehension and only then are they ready to ‘hear’ what you have to say (fear makes conversations harder and exaggerates negative reactions/responses).
  2. Gain buy-in – Immediately involving them in the process sets a tone of mutual responsibility, involvement, ownership, and creates a more effective/productive environment/relationship.
  3. Level-set expectations – This provides you the opportunity to clarify any misconceptions before the face-to-face meeting.
  4. Increase efficiency – You don’t want to waste your time reviewing information the employee can read or should already know (NISSAN WAYMindsets/Actions, rating scale, etc.).
  5. Increase effectiveness – Get the employee to think deeply about their performance (strengths/weaknesses) before the meeting.

BuildTrust

Eight Enemies of Trust - Trust between two individuals is a fragile thing. In a Harvard Business Review article (February 2003), authors Galford and Drapeau describe eight individual and organizational behaviors that will quickly destroy trust.

  1. Inconsistentmessages that create the impression that people can't depend on the messages they get from the organization
  2. Inconsistentstandards that allow individuals or groups to get preferred treatment
  3. Toleratingproblematic behavior - not addressing rude/abusive behavior or under-performance
  4. False feedback that fails to state the truth that people don't want to hear
  5. Failure to trust others that unjustly undermines others
  6. Ignoring difficult situations and refusing to face the reality that is common knowledge
  7. Allowing rumors to circulate unchecked during complex initiatives
  8. Consistent failure of the organization to reach the performance targets set by senior management such that management appears to have an unrealistic view of the world

13 Behaviors of High-Trust Leaders

In his book The Speed of Trust, Covey has identified 13 common behaviors of trusted leaders that will allow you to build, rebuild, and/or maintain trust. If you adopt these ways of behaving, you will be making significant deposits into the "trust account" of your employee’s and coworkers. The 13 behaviors identified are:

Character Based / Competence Based / Character & Competence
1. Talk Straight
2. Demonstrate Respect
3. Create Transparency
4. Right Wrongs
5. Show Loyalty / 6. Deliver Results
7. Get Better
8. Confront Reality
9. Clarify Expectation
10. Practice Accountability / 11. Listen First
12. Keep Commitments
13. Extend Trust

Each of the 13 Behaviors need to be balanced by others to be effective. Like all behaviors, any of the 13 can be pushed to an extreme and quickly will become a weakness that damages your own credibility and the effectiveness of your team. For example, “Talk Straight” must be balanced by “Demonstrate Respect,” or you may be perceived as rude, abrasive, or abrupt.

The job of a leader is to lead...to provide the example...to go first. This means that your job is to extend trust to your employee’s first. Not a blind trust, but rather a "smart trust" characterized by clear expectations and strong accountability. The most effective leaders act with an intentional decision to extend trust to others.

Covey conceptualizes the trust and credibility relationship as a bank account. Managers ‘spend’ the trust of their subordinates and ‘earn’ additional trust through the transactions and processes that define the operations of the work group. Using this framework examine your current behavior and decide on one ‘deposit’ you will start making into your trust account and one ‘withdrawal’ you plan to avoid.

A manager’s basic job is to increase staff motivation. Motivation is what drives performance, and performance creates value. Employees want to feel that they are members of a team. They want to have a sense of community”

— Carlos Ghosn —

NISSAN WAY– Supportive Explanations

The following supportive explanations enhance the definition of the Mindset and Actions. These are not intended to represent every possible interpretation for each Mindset or Action. Rather, they support these interpretations, to enable reflection and dialog as we examine how to strengthen how we apply NISSAN WAY in our organization.

NISSAN WAYMindsets
Cross-Functional,
Cross-Cultural
Be open and show empathy towards different views; welcome diversity / Cross-Functional, Cross-Cultural includes welcoming input from others and valuing their viewpoints. It is important to show empathy to others and consider how our actions affect others as well.
It is also important to welcome diversity within the organization during our day to day activities, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, etc. By working with other functions/regions/individuals, we can exchange ideas, solutions and issues. Together, we can look for opportunities and efficiencies.
Embracing healthy conflict across functions and cultures is a way to create synergy and value among ourselves.
Transparent
Be clear, be simple, no vagueness, and no hiding. / Transparency includes clear and simple strategy, business processes, and communications. It is important that we do not hide problems, rather we clearly state issues and freely exchange ideas, regardless of levels in the organization. We should put a problem on the table to seek a solution to work through healthy conflict. Encouraging and welcoming open communication enables a transparent culture. This eliminates vagueness, uncovers issues, and ensures everyone shares the same information.
Learner
Be passionate. Learn from every opportunity; create a learning company. / Every internal and external experience provides a learning opportunity. We are encouraged by and learn from our past successes as well as failures. We encourage risk taking and allow for mistakes when taking on new challenges. This leads to innovation and personal growth. We take responsibility for mistakes and embrace them as a learning opportunity. And by sharing lessons with others, we can create a learning/coaching organization. Individuals who have the willingness to admit they do not know can learn the most.
Frugal
Achieve maximum results with minimum resources. / We look for every opportunity to achieve maximum results with minimum resources, but this does not mean we are cheap. Our focus is on the customer and we can meet their needs by creating value and providing good quality. But it is important to explore alternatives, use fewer resources for maximum value and identify synergies and efficiencies within the organization.
Competitive
No complacency, focus on competition and continuous benchmarking. / Remaining competitive means we maintain a sense of urgency, are not complacent, and we proactively move toward "best in class," with the customer in mind. Continuous benchmarking (internally and externally) is important because customer needs and competitors change.
NISSAN WAYActions
Motivate
How are you energizing yourself and others? / We know how to energize ourselves, rather than always looking to others to provide sources of motivation. And we also look for opportunities to motivate others. Motivation is enabled by many forms, including new challenges and opportunities, feedback and coaching, rewards and recognition and individually seeking and achieving new challenges.
Commit & Target
Are you accountable/stretching toward your potential? / We take accountability and stretch to our full potential. In daily activities, we proactively and publicly commit to additional responsibility and seek new opportunities to contribute to the organization and meet customer needs.
Perform
Are you fully focused on delivering results? / We make sure that each action is focused on delivering results. It’s important that our actions are effective, efficient, and add value, while still stretching toward our potential. Walk the talk. Plans are useless if actions do not deliver results to the customer.
Measure
How do you assess performance? / We measure our performance and evaluate both our actions and the added value for the customers. By measuring performance, we ensure that work is value-added, efficient, and meets the expectations of our customers.
Challenge
How are you driving continuous and competitive progress across the company? / We challenge ourselves to demonstrate best practice and a commitment to excellence. Continuous improvement (kaizen) leads to sustainability.
We look for opportunities to deliver beyond expectations, or new opportunities to add value.

Guidelines for Completing the