Inspiring Performance Our Guide to the
Performance Development Review Process
What's in this guide? Page
03
Inspiring Performance – Our Approach
04
Our Performance Development Review Cycle
05
Half-year Review
06
Half-year Review – Roles & Responsibilities
08
Objective Setting - Overview
09
Objective Setting - Roles & Responsibilities
10
SMART Objectives
11
Check- ins - Having great conversations
13
Giving Feedback
15
Tools for the job
What is the performance development review process all about? What needs to happen when?
What does a Half-year review look like?
Details on how to review performance with your manager
What does a great performance development review look like? Details on how to set objectives with your manager
How to set smart of objectives Some tips and hints on having great conversations
A overview of Giving Feedback
Details of where to find useful documents Page 02
Inspiring Performance Our Approach We all share something in common – we’re all part of Howes Percival family and this means no matter what job we do, our working day, our time and our energy are all connected. As a business we strive to deliver excellent service and to do this we need excellent people. That’s where you come in; our performance framework makes sure we’re setup for success, providing you with support, development opportunities and honest feedback to help you achieve your full potential. We’ll explain what this is all about in the following pages, but in short, it means us all being really clear on what is required of us, what we need to deliver and how we demonstrate our DNA. We want to create a performance culture which enables us to constantly raise the bar, live by our DNA and support each other to deliver our goals and ambitions. This all starts with us having great conversations with our line managers/or team to set development objectives and agree actions.
ework: Our performance fram Is underpinned by great conversations with our manager Helps us to be really clear on what is required of us Provides support, development and honest feedback Offers a balanced assessment of what we deliver and how we demonstrate our DNA Creates opportunities to ask for support, improve performance and share ambitions Means we can identify and recognise people who have really gone the extra mile
Our Performance Development Review Cycle Obtain Feedback
Half-year Review and Objective Setting May
Check-In February
Check-In August
Half-year Review November
Obtain Feedback
Our performance development review process encourages you and your manager to have ongoing great conversations about your performance and development throughout the year:
Page 04
Half-year Review - Looking back The half year review is an opportunity for both you and your manager to look back over the previous 6 months and reflect on What has been delivered (your performance against objectives) as well as How it has been delivered (your attitude, behaviours and demonstration of our values). A two-way conversation should take place to review your whole job contribution and a summary should be captured by you and your manager using ‘Performance Development Review’ form.
This conversation offers the opportunity to: • • • •
Revisit and refresh objectives if required Recognise and say thank you for your contribution Provide developmental feedback to help you continue to improve Where performance requires improvement, a plan to provide further support can be obtain with guidance from the People team.
Page 08
After
During
Before
Half-year Review Meeting - Roles & Responsibilities Reviewee
Reviewer
• Request feedback from colleagues or clients connected to your objectives using the template (see page 15) • Book a meeting with your manager with at least two weeks notice. • Review your objectives and complete the Performance Development Review form to be shared with your manager at least two weeks prior to the meeting
• Record throughout the year instances when your team members have performed well and what they could do to be more effective • Review the Performance Development Review form from your team members, received 2 weeks in advance of the meeting • Review the training in this guide on Giving Feedback
• Share feedback received with your manager • Discuss what has been achieved as well as how it aligns to our DNA (values and behaviours) • Discuss what you have learn during the previous period and how you will use that going forward • Agree the rating and discuss next steps
• Actively listen without judgement, make sure you aren’t making assumptions and your opinions are fact based. • Provide feedback, ensuring it is specific and factual • Give equal attention to both what has been achieve and how • Agree the rating and discuss next steps • Agree any changes to objectives if required
• Continue working on your objectives • Collate ongoing feedback from colleagues and clients to support your next half year review
• If the rating is “Requires further support” contact your People team member to create a plan • Share your team’s completed Performance Development Review forms with the Reviewee to get their agreements and then send to the People Team
Half-year Review - Ratings After each half-year review you will receive a rating of your performance against your objectives for the previous six months. There are three possible ratings you could receive: Requires Further support
Has not achieved the majority of their objectives and under-performed in their role. A plan of support should be discussed with the People team.
Meets Expectations
The agreed objectives have been achieved and key responsibilities in their role have been successfully completed.
Exceeds Expectations
Has significantly exceeded expectations in all agreed objectives with outstanding results achieved.
Whilst most people aspire to exceed expectations it is very difficult to exceed expectations in all objectives. As a firm we expect the majority of our people to achieve a ‘meets expectations’ rating. That means they have delivered a great performance in their day-to-day tasks and achieved the majority of their objectives. Below is an indication of the distribution we might expect to see: 5-10%
75-85%
10-15%
Requires Further Support
Meets Expectations
Exceeds Expectations
Page 10
Objective Setting - Looking forward Objectives help to motivate and engage people by providing clarity of what they need to achieve in their role and by when. During the May half-year review you should agree with your manager up to seven objectives for the following 6-month to 12-month period as well as discuss your personal development and career aspirations. When setting your objectives, you should include both business and personal growth objectives and consider not only what you will achieve but also how you will achieve it.
Business objectives: You should set business objectives which are: o o o o
Aligned to our business strategy Relevant and realistic to your role and personal circumstances Focused and measurable with clear outcomes and deliverables Stretching yet achievable
Personal growth objectives:
Top tip: Our career framework documents can really help you with personal growth objectives, see page 15 for more information.
You should set personal growth objectives which: o o
Help you to build capabilities to enable you to excel in your current role or Build capabilities to prepare you for the next phase of your career
Objectives can be added and amended throughout the review period however, you should be mindful to set achievable objectives.
Objective Setting - Roles & Responsibilities
Before
Reviewee • Take time to understand the team vision and objectives for the next 12 months and how that can inform your objectives • Book a meeting with your manager with at least two weeks notice. • Draft S.M.A.R.T. objectives on the Objective Setting form to be shared with your manager at least two weeks prior to the meeting
During
• Attend the meeting with a clear understanding of your personal development and career aspirations • Discuss both what you would like to achieve as well as how you will achieve your objectives • Discuss what support you require from your manager in order to be successful • Agree the objectives and discuss next steps
After
• Start working on your objectives • Collate ongoing feedback from colleagues and clients to support your half year review
Reviewer • Review the draft forms from your team members, received 2 weeks in advance of the meeting • Review the training in this guide on Great Conversations • Contact your HR team member if you have any queries or require any support
• Make sure you are on-time for the meeting and are able to give your team member your full attention. • Actively listen without judgement, make sure you aren’t making assumptions and your opinions are fact based. • Ask open questions to ensure the draft objectives are S.M.A.R.T. • Agree the objectives and discuss next steps
• Check in informally with team members from time to time to see how they are getting on and if they need any support from you. • Share your team’s completed Objective Setting forms with HR
Page 06
Objective Setting - Being S.M.A.R.T. Objective setting is like using a good road map. Without clear, specific goals, you’ll find that it’s much more difficult to stay on track when trying to reach an objective. • Be clear and specific of what your objective is which will be easier to achieve. This helps you know how and where to get started.
S M A R T
• Your objective should be measurable which will help you determine how successful your progress is. You should think of the indicators of success. • It should be attainable, think of the time and resources you may need, think of the support from others that ill support your delivery. • Your objectives must be relevant, they should align the business values and overall business strategy.
• Set realistic timeline for your objective, with specific start and end date.
jectives b O .T .R .A .M S le Examp “To be promoted to Director level within 6 months by completing the necessary training requirements and applying for the role at the end of March 2022.”
“To learn more about Equality and Diversity by joining the E&D committee and undertaking the Inclusion course on the LMS by the end of July 2022”
Check-Ins - Informal, everyday conversations As a part of the Performance Development Review Process we recommend managers have informal “check-ins” with their team members between the half-year reviews. Whilst these aren’t enforced, they are great way for managers: • • •
to build relationships with their team members to help them to achieve their objectives to support them with their development and performance.
No documentation needs to be completed following a check-in, they are simply an opportunity for managers to have a really great, open conversation with the people in their team. There is no fixed structure to these meetings, however below is a framework you can follow to help during your check-ins. Understand their overall situation Ask broad open questions like: •How are you? •How are you finding things at the moment? •What are you currently working on?
Focus on the specifics
Explore 2-3 areas in more detail: •How are things progressing with a specific project or objective? •What are the barriers? •What are the next steps?
Offer support or guidance
Offer support to your team member: •How can I best support you? •Would you like to hear suggestions on how I would approach that situation?
Having great conversations… Having a great conversation doesn’t just mean getting to know someone or enjoying talking to a person, a great conversation has structure, purpose and outcomes. Those outcomes could be helping to support improved performance to providing recognition of success. There are 5 stages to a great conversation as per below: Stage
Summary
Open
Choose a suitable location and time then establish a connection and a degree of rapport
• • •
How are you today? Are you having a good week? What did you do at the weekend?
Clarify
Be clear what it is you want to talk about. Use positive, respectful language. If there’s a problem, focus on the problem, not the person.
• •
I arranged this meeting today to discuss … I wanted to talk to you about the recent situation with … I wanted to take time to explore …
Get into the heart of the conversation. Make your point, share thoughts, feelings and rationale; explore different perspectives or alternatives; listen and respond with empathy.
• • • • •
Develop
Example language
•
•
Agree
Close
I noticed that recently… I have received feedback that.. Can you tell me more about… What is your view on… That is an interesting point, can I offer you my perspective… You mention X, can you tell me more about that please
It’s vital that you check for understanding – do both parties properly understand each other? Are you both clear about what the conversation has been about and what’s been discussed? Is there a clear action to be agreed?
• • • • •
I’m hearing that you feel.. It sounds like you are saying that… So we both want to achieve X, is that right? What are the next steps to move this forward? How can we approach this situation in future?
If there’s nothing else to be discussed, check for questions, summarise the outcome of the conversation and thank the other person; close the conversation.
• • •
Is there anything you want to discuss with me? Is there any support I can offer? Thank you for your time, let’s book in another meeting in 2 weeks to see how things have progressed.
To ensure you have a great conversation, prepare ahead by thinking about the purpose of your conversation and what you need to do and say at each of these stages to ensure the conversation is successful in achieving it. Page 12
Feedback - How to collect Giving and receiving feedback is important part of all of our development. Positive feedback helps us to recognise our successes and constructive feedback helps us to develop and grow. You will be asked to share 360 feedback to support your half year review. The easiest way to do so is to request feedback as you complete key projects or objectives to ensure it is timely and people have a clear memory of what has been achieved and how. There is a template you can use to collate feedback (see page 15) this structure can make it easier for individuals to provide feedback.
Don’t forget… 360 feedback means from stakeholders who have different working relationships with you, including at the same and different levels in a hierarchy and both inside and outside the firm. CLIENTS
Feedback – How to give Giving feedback is a skill that you can develop over time with practice. To begin with giving feedback can feel uncomfortable but remember if someone has reached out to you to provide feedback that means they value your opinion and trust you as a colleague.
Basics of giving feedback: • •
Be Specific Be clear
• •
Be respectful Be empathetic
What specifically is being done well or could be improved?
• •
Use non-judgmental language Give examples
The effects these actions are having/ have had
What can be done more effectively or more of in the future?
The AID model above can provide a simple way to structure your feedback, lets see how it can work for both positive and constructive feedback: Positive feedback Action
Impact
Do
Last week your report was clear, well structured and contained all the information required for the us to make a decision.
This meant we have been able to plan our workload for the next 12 months so well done.
Please continue to use that style of report and share your knowledge with the team to help us develop their skills in report writing.
Action
Impact
Do
Project Y was delivered two weeks late as there was no project plan created.
This means the rest of the team will be delayed with their work as they couldn’t start until the project was complete.
More effective project management and a clearly defined project plan in future would help to prevent this happening again.
Developmental feedback
Page 14
Tools for the job Tool:
How can it help:
Performance Development Review form
To record the outcomes of your Half Year Review meetings
Objective Setting Form
To document your business and personal objectives.
Visit the intranet
Feedback Template Email
To request and collate feedback throughout the year
Visit the intranet
Performance Development Review Training
To support you in following this new process and understand what has changed.
Visit the LMS
Career Development Frameworks
To support career planning and setting personal objectives
DNA – values and behaviours framework
To help describe the way we should be acting and how we should be achieving our objectives
Business Strategy and Plans
To understand the firm’s goals and aspirations and consider how you can work towards these in your objectives
The LMS – Learning Management system
To learn new skills or request additional training
People Team
To coach people through the process and provide guidance and support for people to achieve their objectives.
Where to find it: Visit the intranet
Coming in August 22 on the intranet
Visit the Intranet Talk to your Manager or PGL member
Visit the LMS
Email: peopleteam@howes percival.com