Performance Conversations and You...

Performance appraisals are an annual ritual nearly everyone dreads. They're seen by both managers and staff as an unwelcome burden and a waste of time. We arrive feeling anxious, exposed and resent feeling "talked down-to”. At the same time, managers struggle with how best to approach conducting them and fear raising defensiveness or causing distress. In one HR survey 9 out of 10 staff are reported to have said that appraisals were not only painful but that they didn’t work to improve their performance on the job.

The whole point of performance development is to help you improve: to bridge gaps, build skills, bolster constructive behaviour and remove barriers to putting in your best effort. Done well, performance appraisals should help you achieve goals, grow your talent, align your efforts with the organisation and encourage top performance and personal growth. Clearly, if your manager isn’t all that crash-hot when it comes to the delivery, these outcomes are likely to be more difficult to achieve.

Managers play the lead-role in initiating the appraisal and engaging staff, but let’s not forget the other key player. While it’s up to leaders to make it safe for staff to engage and be able to deal with defensiveness, it’s also up to staff to overcome any natural dislike they may have and approach the appraisal in constructive and positive ways.

Most performance conversations training is only for leaders. But to work well, performance conversations should be two-way. That's where this program comes in... Making Performance Conversations work for You attempts to level the playing field by helping staff (that’s you!) understand what a good performance conversation should be like and equipping you with tools to respond to and engage more positively with the whole process.

Performance Conversations

Coaching Clinic for LEADERS

1-Day (or 2-Days In-House)

Making Performance Conversations work for You -- Seminar for Staff

Making Performance Conversations work for You is structured around 12 Pointers for more Positive Performance Conversations that are compatible with the footings and frameworks we cover in our program for leaders – Positive Performance Conversations – so hopefully you can both be speaking the same language.

The idea is to focus on future positive performance rather than past negatives. Focusing less on what's wrong and more on what’s expected creates a different emotional climate that enables you and your manager to share even difficult feedback in constructive ways.

This staff clinic is presented as either a half-day or 1 full-day seminar. It aims to help you:

Engage more constructively in performance conversations

Identify what you can do to make them work better for you

Keep them two-way & make sure managers don’t monopolise

Control anxiety and defensive urges and focus on the facts

Cope better with getting difficult or uncomfortable feedback

Take a solution-based approach to performance issues

You'll take-away a 55-page self-coaching guidebook covering the 12 Pointers for more Positive Performance Conversations, with tips and tools to help you overcome reservations and engage better with performance conversations. Following the session you'll be able to develop a practical plan for preparing yourself to better handle the personal challenges of performance conversations.

Topics we'll touch on include:

	Preparing and planning for a PC - work out what you want
	Controlling anxiety and defensive urges and coping with uncomfortable feedback
	Saying what you have to say calmly & clearly
	Staying on the positive side and suggesting solutions
	What to do when your boss mishandles the talk
	Insisting on actions for follow through & support

Is this clinic right for you? This session will be of use to any staff member who wants to handle themselves better in performance conversations. It’s especially suitable for encouraging more positive engagement by giving staff some basic understanding so they can feel empowered to participate equally in the conversation. It’s also good if you want to improve the effectiveness of your performance management process and ensure leaders have a better experience of them too.

8 Download the program Brochure here PDF

8 See our current Schedule of Public Programs for dates and locations of upcoming clinics near you.

8 Register On-Line or Enquire about an In-House clinic for your team

8 Preview our Article on Preparing for Performance Conversations or see our Topics & Tips on Performance Conversations