For many people, performance reviews seem like rather soulless exercises driven by organizational imperatives. Designed to measure performance in order to determine whether employees have met their goals and thus have contributed to the organization’s results, they are usually highly structured, formulaic, and data-oriented. Unless a leader or manager consciously sets out to make the performance review process about more than numbers, it’s not likely to help employees grow or gain greater insight into themselves and their work. Being rated on accomplishments is necessary, of course, but it is only part of the picture. If you want to invite people to bring their full and best selves to work, you must engage in a different sort of conversation.

Greg Eaton decided he wanted to change the way performance evaluations were held in his company, a thriving business that organized corporate meetings and incentive trips. The company was known for providing exceptional customer service.  Read more...