Effective Evaluations - Evaluate to Motivate

02.10.2024

My first introduction to delivering evaluations and constructive feedback came to me when I was 16. After earning my black belt with a local karate organization, I became an instructor. The program I ran offered the chance for belt testing every 8-12 weeks or so, and it was my job to evaluate students' performance and determine if they would move on to the next belt. As a 16-year-old, I wanted to promote every kid - to see their joy when they advanced in rank. I knew, however, that some students would just have to wait because their skill level was just not there yet. I learned early in life about the sandwich method of delivering feedback - something positive, the meat, something positive again. It was all I could do to try and soften the blow and lessen the tears of the kiddos in my class. 

I've had a mixed experience with evaluations, and giving and receiving feedback, over the last 18 years since then. From poorly handled evaluations from managers to me, poorly handling evaluations for others, it's taken a lot of practice and mindfulness to become better at evaluating others.

A majority of my feedback experience comes from volunteering with Toastmasters. It was there that I heard some of the best feedback I've ever received, and generally heard others give. In this public speaking and leadership organization, the focus on evaluations is this: by the end of the evaluation, a person should feel uplifted to do better next time, with concrete advice on how to do so. You should always evaluate to motivate.

I'm of the strong opinion that more professionals should take this approach to handling employee evaluations. The structure of the evaluation and the evaluation cycle is usually determined by the company, but managers have full control over the delivery of that evaluation, and of all feedback they offer their employees outside of and during the cycle. Now the question remains: how do you deliver feedback in such a way that it uplifts someone? 

While it's easy enough to talk through a "compliment sandwich," a positive > constructive > positive feedback format, the contents of that sandwich matter. A simple 2 pieces of bread + bologna is a sandwich, but so is a turkey, bacon, and avocado club sandwich, stacked high. So how do you take your sandwich and make it satisfying to the recipient? These are 3 critical things to keep in mind:

Positive Feedback: your positive feedback should not just be what you "like" about the employee. Give them tangible points about how they contribute to the growth of the business, the morale of the team, etc. "This was a positive because X, Y, Z." Using this kind of language and giving direct references to moments of positive performance also alerts the employee to what they should *continue* doing. Just like the bread of a sandwich, your positive feedback should bookend your constructive feedback. If you want to make it a multi-decker sandwich, practice interlacing positive feedback with constructive feedback. What does this look like? 

• You did a great job achieving all of your sales goals last year, accounting for x% of our team's sales numbers - you directly contributed to our department's success!

• It was incredible watching you mentor our new hires for the last 6 months - you really demonstrated our company's core value of knowledge sharing, and proved to be invaluable to our team, and to the newbies. 

Constructive Feedback: your constructive feedback should not be an endless list of the things your employee has done wrong, especially if you've never taken the opportunity to provide on-the-spot feedback or addressed the issues previously. Your instructive feedback should include the behavior you want to see changed, how you expect to see it changed, and why that change is beneficial to them as the employee, you as the manager, and/or the company as a whole. The what, how, and especially WHY of constructive feedback are what truly differentiates it from just being "criticisms." What does this look like? 

• [WHAT] While you had great tNPS for phone interactions, your tNPS was much lower for emails. 

  • [WHY] I know you pride yourself on your customer service, and I want to make sure your survey scores better reflect your commitment and dedication to our team and customers. 

  • [HOW] In the coming weeks, I'll look for some time for us to sit together while you answer some emails, and I'll see what coaching opportunities there are to help boost these scores. 

Conclusion: most of the evaluations I've experienced in the professional world have ended on a talking point or question from the evaluation. We don't revisit the points we talked about earlier. Whatever we last talked about, is the last thing on my mind, and my focal point, post-evaluation. Unfortunately, in many of these cases, that last point was also a criticism, and left me feeling defeated in my roles. To avoid this, and to empower your employees to want to succeed, be sure that you end your meeting with a solid conclusion. Recount the positives, highlight the parts you talked through working on, and end on a positive note about the employee's continued contribution to the team. This thoughtful way of ending the meeting will go FAR with your employees. 

• As we wrap up today's conversation, I just want to make sure we are on the same page about your performance and our next steps. You have had a phenomenal year - from meeting all of your team and sales goals, to implementing new features for 7 customers, to your world class +89 tNPS. Additionally, we have some good goals for improvement with tangible steps to improve email survey scores and email response timeliness, and I look forward to seeing your growth in those areas next year. Before I let you go/end this conversation, I just want to thank you again for all of the positive contributions you made to our team in the last year. Our team can learn a lot from your customer friendliness, goal execution, and drive for change. 

Affirming words of acknowledgment, and instructional words of encouragement, can go so far with employees, and people in your everyday life. Whether you're gently letting down your karate students, or coaching an employee, if you want to effectively inspire change in others, be sure to evaluate to motivate. 

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