Having Great Performance and Development Conversations: Whose Job Is It Anyway?

The central goal of performance management is achieving an optimal level of performance and organizational effectiveness but bringing out the best in your staff is quite challenging yet necessary. One of the best ways is to have in-depth performance and development conversations.  

Such face-to-face conversations are instrumental in clarifying to your team what is expected of them and tracking their progress and achievements at work. These discussions also help you identify employee goals, support their growth, and help them reach their full potential. In other words, strategic performance and development conversations allow managers and employees to listen to one another, provide personalized development, and deepen their rapport.  

So, who is responsible for initiating and managing such conversations? What are the conditions for having these conversations? And how can you conduct such discussions?

Whose Job Is It? 

Workplace conversations are necessary; they are essential in resolving issues, giving advice, being updated, getting encouragement, and agreeing on the way forward. Employee performance and development conversations are crucial to achieving outstanding organizational performance. But who is or should be in charge of such conversations?  

In most cases, the responsibility falls on managers, some of whom have attained some training in performance management to handle basic workplace issues but others lack the expertise to deal with the complex art of conversation. Employee performance and development conversations aim to, among others, improve individuals' ability to cope with certain issues, people, or situations. Such conversations involve finding out how employees feel, their interests, what is worrying them, and issues outside work that potentially influence their work, requiring specific skill sets.  

Managers are the best suited to handle performance and development discussions. The main reason is that they directly interact with employees, so they are better positioned to initiate these conversations. However, they must have the necessary skills and knowledge to handle issues around such discussions, and this is where HR comes in.  

The HR Manager  

The ultimate responsibility for performance and development conversations lies with HR. They play a leading role in improving the quality of performance and development conversations and suggesting practical ideas for making this happen. Therefore, they should:  

Set Standards for Conversations  

The HR manager should establish the general guidelines for great performance and development conversations. This begins with a role description, where the overall scope of performance of the role of the line managers, employees, and other parties involved are outlined. The specific outcomes of these conversations in terms of goals/objectives must be defined – these discussions must be geared towards achieving something. Lastly, the HR manager must establish values, principles, and other competencies that govern how such conversations are held.  

Instill Essential Skills to Managers  

For performance and development conversations to be meaningful and achieve their intended purposes successfully, managers must possess certain skills and expertise. HR is responsible for ensuring managers have the necessary skills to become effective in performance and development conversations.  

Create an Avenue for Meaningful Conversations  

The workplace environment must support honest and natural work-related exchange between managers and employees. The HR manager should establish the necessary conditions that enable natural and unscripted friendly yet professional conversations between managers and employees that lead to desirable outcomes.  

How are Effective Conversations Conducted? 

Having established that performance and development conversations are vital, what do managers and employees need to know to make these conversations effective?  

The list below highlights the characteristics of effective performance and development conversations that managers and individual employees should consider. Some of these features are cognitive and others behavioral.  

Characteristic 

Relevant: The conversation should apply to the organization's priorities, job, and situation of the individual or the team.  

Shared: There should be shared ownership of goals, agendas, insights, and actions between managers and employees.  

Timely: The performance and development conversations should be conducted at an appropriate time to enable reflection and action.  

Insight: Both sets of parties should gain invaluable insights and understanding from the conversations.  

Action: The conversions should influence action towards addressing a particular set of issues around which the conversation was based.  

Effective performance and development conversations should always lead to action. For managers and employees to agree on a relevant course of action, the conversation must produce constructive insights, which is more likely if the conversation is relevant, timely, and genuinely shared ownership between the parties.  

Tips For Having Successful Conversations  

The first tip to a successful performance and development conversation is preparation. Managers should understand that quality preparation is useful in taking ownership of shaping and delivering meaningful conversations. Preparation also helps identify key issues that both managers and employees need to address and helps managers understand the perspective and what support and resources are needed to enhance the conversations. So, suppose you're a new manager or dealing with a group of new employees. In that case, it's prudent to go the extra mile in your preparation process to increase your chances of getting the performance and development conversation right.  

Secondly, active listening during the conversation cannot be stressed enough. In most cases, people respond to what they hear, which can be subjective. Active listening is broad; it involves taking in and interpreting information, being empathetic, and absorbing the unspoken parts of the conversations. Active listening is a critical component of effective communication, which is key in having conversations centered around performance and development. So, both managers and employees must take time and practice active listening.  

Thirdly, the conversation should be based on the principles of honesty and transparency. As established earlier, there should be a sense of shared ownership among the parties involved, which results in unanimity in the course of action. This is only achievable in an environment where everyone is honest.  

Fourthly, attention is key to effective conversations. Notably, the conversations between managers and employees, in this case, focus solely on performance and development. Therefore, attention is critical in ensuring members don't deviate from critical issues unless it is extremely urgent. The achievement of the goals of the conversation is influenced by the extent to which the attention is undivided.  

Bottom Line  

Conversations that focus on employee performance and development are essential to identifying your employees' goals, realizing their potential, and helping them grow as professionals, which benefits your organization. Modern organizational management is more people-oriented, meaning organizations that focus on the well-being of their workforce are more likely to attract and retain top talent. So, make it a priority to achieve a strong organizational culture that promotes favorable and productive conversations between your managers and employees.