Start, Stop, Keep Going - Feedback DeliveryThere has certainly been a lot of change in the world of performance management over the last few years. Companies are shifting to more regular development discussions, organizations are revising their rating and rewards processes, and employees are demanding feedback transparency in job expectations and measures of success.

More Feedback = Greater Success

These changes are happening quickly, and more studies are showing that companies that invest in performance management are experiencing a direct impact on their bottom line. Employees who receive regular feedback are shown to be more engaged and productive and less likely to leave. Companies who monitor performance and potential are having an easier time planning for leadership gaps and developing future talent, and managers who make themselves accountable for providing clear objectives and more in-the-moment feedback are experiencing greater team success.

But at the end of the day, performance management comes down to direct communication between employees and their managers, coaches, leaders, and the company. No matter how HR defines measures of success, the front-line of your company’s performance management strategy will be the delivery of feedback from your managers.

Giving Feedback is Easy – Giving Effective Feedback is Tough

We frequently consult with companies and HR on how to better train and equip managers with the skills needed to deliver good and balanced feedback. We have written several articles and numerous blogs on the topic. We have even built-in tools and resources within emPerform to help managers give better feedback – but feedback still remains a challenge for many managers. Giving good and effective feedback is simply tough for anyone.

One of the most effective ways to guide managers in giving clear, constructive and honest feedback is the START, STOP, KEEP-GOING framework. Its simplicity is what makes it so beautiful, and practically, it is one of the best tools we have used internally, and that our clients have used to frame feedback across the organization.

What is START, STOP, KEEP-GOING?

We don’t have an official definition, nor can we trace where it originated, but we first learned about it in Mark Effron’s book ‘One Page Talent Management’. It is used across many disciplines from performance management, to project assessments and even agile/scrum discussions. It is an easy action-oriented retrospective exercise designed to acknowledge success and propose plans for improvement. It is sometimes called START, STOP, CONTINUE, or DO MORE, DO NOT CHANGE, DO LESS. In regards to performance management and employee development, this framework:

  • Gives employees and managers the opportunity to review how they are doing and identify improvements they can implement in the future.
  • Makes it easier for managers to clarify issues and reach a consensus with the employee on shared priorities.
  • Is action-orientated and provides momentum and energy for the employee.
  • Empowers managers to continuously improve the way they lead, and employees to improve the way they work.
  • Gives employees balanced feedback – the good, the bad, and the great.

This framework can be used when a manager sits down to complete reviews, conduct check-in meetings, or is regrouping with employees, and can apply to discussions around overall performance, select goals or projects, and even behaviors. It can also be used to provide a framework for 360° peer evaluators.

Here’s how it’s done:

START:

What should the employee begin doing or do more? This aspect of the framework allows the manager to look ahead and identify activities that their employee will do, should do more, or should start doing in the coming future. This section can also identify behaviors that should be developed and increased to help the employee succeed. This might also include goals or tasks that are coming or are ready to begin. It is a great way to set the stage for something new and discuss what resources are available to help the employee excel.

STOP:

What should the employee stop doing? This aspect of the framework looks backward and allows the manager to outline behaviors or actions that did not work or did not contribute to success for the employee or company. This might also include goals and tasks that have been canceled. This is the more critical feedback that is nicely sandwiched in the middle. Managers should outline clear examples and accounts of why things didn’t work and be prepared to discuss with the employee.

KEEP-GOING:

What should the employee keep doing? Identifies behaviors or actions that worked and that contributed to the employee’s success or goal attainment. These elements should be continued and developed to leverage their success. This is an opportunity to acknowledge success and reinforce behavior.

Where should you use the START, STOP, KEEP-GOING framework?

The beauty of these comment boxes is that it can frame smaller discussions, like weekly check-ins, or larger more in-depth discussions related to goals and development. Many of our clients include these 3 comment boxes alongside competencies, and some even use these as the questions asked to peer-reviewers in lieu of having 360° reviewers provide a ‘rating’ on behaviors. The important thing is that this tool is used anywhere where managers (or anyone in a potion to provide feedback) might struggle to provide balanced input that looks backward and forward, and also acknowledged achievements.

Words of caution:

Watch for Repetition

The framework itself is very simple but it can be tempting to re-frame and repeat the same points in multiple sections. For instance: “Start: sending emails to the entire team  Stop: Forgetting to send emails to the entire team.” Managers should re-read their points to ensure there isn’t overlap because this often happens without intending to do so.

Beware of Bias:

No framework can guard against bias. Managers will still struggle to accurately populate each box unless they pay attention and document behaviors, accounts and results. The best way to deliver feedback and explain the ‘why’ of the input is to support it with specific examples. We encourage managers to keep detailed notes and records of performance on an ongoing basis, so they can reference key points and use when they are outlining the START, STOP, KEEP GOING.

Overall, if you are looking for a simple but highly effective way to ensure your company’s talent is getting balanced, action-oriented feedback, the START, STOP KEEP-GOING framework is a fantastic option. Not only is it very clear and easy to follow, but it also sets the stage for highly effective feedback conversations and performance discussions between managers and employees. Who would have thought that three little comment boxes would be one of the best performance management tools we have seen?


Want to see how emPerform users are using START, STOP, KEEP-GOING in performance reviews and employee check-ins?

Contact us to book a demo of emPerform.

Performance Feedback Software Screenshot

Employees are the most valuable asset a company has. With the current talent crisis reducing the pool of available workers and the exodus known as the Great Resignation, business growth is at risk. To ensure continuity, organizations must focus on retention and improving the employee lifecycle to accomplish their goals.  

Performance management programs are critical to supporting this effort. The ultimate goal is to keep employees engaged and happy, which requires more than just a decent salary and benefits. We don’t always know why our best talent leaves, and we can’t prevent them all from moving on. Still, there are strategies and tools we can apply to improve the situation and create a more sustainable lifecycle for employees at any stage of their journey.  

What is Employee Lifecycle Management? 

Employee lifecycle management has six distinct stages. Each area can be exploited individually to ensure an employee’s time at the company is positive and fruitful. A holistic and thoughtful lifecycle process results in higher levels of employee satisfaction, increased productivity, and better retention. 

Managing each of these stages requires clear goal-setting, repeatable processes, and systems for measuring success. A performance management program delivers on all points, ensuring consistency and continuity while providing the data you need to define success.  


Here are the six steps for effective employee lifecycle management, along with insights and tips to guide you through each of them. 

  1. Outreach 

Your employee brand, how you attract and communicate with potential candidates matter. The outreach stage is their initial engagement with your organization and will make a lasting impression. It’s your opportunity to build trust and establish the foundations of a mutually beneficial relationship.  

  1. Recruitment 

A structured hiring process builds on the trust you’ve already formed with the candidate. Build repeatable processes and consider outcomes to see how you can enhance future efforts. Using software to track tasks and activities ensures nothing slips through the cracks, and it also helps you identify areas that need improvement. 

  1. Onboarding 

The first 100 days on the job are easily the most critical—and the riskiest. It’s here where missteps are most likely to happen. By the end of this period, your new hire will know whether they want to stay at your company or not. Should they decide to go, it could cost the company up to three times the employee’s yearly salary.  

To mitigate this potential, your onboarding program needs to provide them with all the tools they need to feel supported and set up for success. While many companies see onboarding as something that takes place in the first couple of weeks after the hire, extending the process to encompass the first 100 days or more ensures the support continues until the new hire is fully comfortable in their role.  

Performance reviews (30-60-90 day reviews or new hire assessments), feedback, goal management, and surveys contribute to onboarding success as your hire, their managers, and your HR team will have the data they need to keep the process on track.  

  1. Development 

Training is undoubtedly part of development. But when we talk about development in the employee lifecycle, it’s more about learning and advancement. Development should be more than just an afterthought—it ought to be a part of your employee lifecycle strategy. Your employees are looking for the next stage in their careers. If you can provide the vehicle that gets them there, rewards will follow.  

Development improves retention, boosts employee engagement, and results in long-term benefits for the organization.  

Goal management is a vital aspect of performance management and employee development. SMART goals align employee interests with company goals, so you’re effectively encouraging them to explore the possibilities while maintaining a clear path to achieving the results you want.  

emPerform simplifies goal-setting, development planning, and career planning, ensuring your entire workforce is aligned to common objectives and that employees always have what they need to succeed.  

  1. Performance 

Employee performance is highly indicative of engagement levels and happiness. But performance is more nuanced than simply tracking one’s ability to do a job. It’s about quality, efficiency, aptitude, attitude, and effectiveness. If you view your employees as an investment, tracking employee performance is about nurturing that investment.  

If you ask the right questions and monitor the right metrics, you’ll see that investment grow and flourish. Every aspect of their engagement with your company has value and can be tracked.  

Employee performance management software provides you with a centralized tool from which you can manage and track all facets of the employee lifecycle. It is fully configurable to your organizational needs, helping you track what matters most without additional complications. 

6. Offboarding 

Offboarding is the final stage in the employee lifecycle. It could come at the end of a long and productive career or as the employee transitions or moves into a new position at another company. These segues are as critical as the initial phases of engagement and should not be treated as a negative.  

When employees leave, for whatever reason, you should use it as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve. The insights you gain at this juncture could be massively valuable, even if the situation with the employee was not ideal.  

When employees leave happy, they will continue to sing your praises. They may refer their friends and colleagues or potentially return to work for you again. Maintaining good relationships reduces the potential for reputational damage, lawsuits, and financial loss.  

If you view your employee performance system as a cycle rather than a linear process, even closures will inform the way forward. In the effort to achieve continuity throughout the employee lifecycle, EmPerform delivers the data and insights you need to improve processes and enable better decision-making. 


Performance Management Begins Before Day One 

When employees have clear expectations from the start, they are more likely to give it their all and be 100% engaged in seeing things through. When they can visualize a path to success, receive regular feedback, are aligned with the company’s mission, and have a transparent rewards structure from day one, the benefits resonate throughout the organization.  

Get started with emPerform today

Are you using Microsoft Dynamics® GP or AX? Maximize your HR capabilities by adding powerful employee performance management!

3-viewsemPerform was built on the idea that simple and powerful will always be better – and as such we offer clients the ability to integrate their employee performance management data with their HRIS, Payroll solution, LMS, and/or ERP system to eliminate the need for duplicate data and to streamline all processes as much as possible.

emPerform’s robust import/export module can help ensure a tight integration with your core HR information systems. Key employee information is extracted from your HRIS so you do not have to manage everything twice.

One of our most frequent integration is with Microsoft Dynamics so we wanted to take this opportunity to explain how it works and what is possible for all of the Dynamics users out there:

emPerform & Dynamics: Read More

tiny pirate shipAhoy! For those who aren’t aware (including me up until yesterday), September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I’m not aware of the significance or meaning but it sounds like fun so I plan to paaaaartake.

I’ve never met a pirate, nor do I plan to but I thought I was one when I was little so I’m basically an expert on the subject. Pirates, just like businesses, rely on their team of shipmates to navigate the rough seas and perform the myriad of tasks needed to reach a destination. The Captain plans the ship’s voyage but it’s the shipmates who work together to get there.

Ensuring each buccaneer is clear on what they are supposed to do, and that all teams are working together towards a common goal, is key. You can’t have everyone focused on the mainsail while the other sails are thrashing. In the pirate world – any under-performing member of the crew can easily be made to walk the plank because there is a port full of willing bodies ready to hop aboard the ship. But in the business world, finding and keeping good talent is vital. The challenge for companies today is organizing teams effectively so each person’s strengths can be used where and when they are needed to benefit themselves as well as the organization. This is much easier said than done and the lack of organizational alignment can cost businesses a lot of loot. I couldn’t find any productivity statistics on pirates, but here are some other numbers that are pretty eye-opening:

  • it is estimated that only 59% of employee work time is productive due to lack of management and clear objectives i
  • at a minimum, turnover costs an average of 25% of an employee’s salary – and this figure can be upwards of 400% of a senior executive’s salary ii
  • the average organization is forfeiting over $1 million per year in untapped potential

So how can businesses run a tighter ship?

Define each job and keep redefining it: Each employee should be clear on what their role is and how it is tied to company success. Each should know what skills they are expected to display and what skills they should be improving on in order to perform their job properly. In the pirate movies I’ve seen, when a storm hits it seems as though every shipmate runs to their post and knows exactly what they have to do.  This is what businesses should be aiming to achieve, not only through dicey weather but each and every day. More importantly, this role description should be dynamic. Just like the tides, roles are in constant motion and ever-evolving. If you stick employees in a box and tell them to stay there, you are likely missing out on some valuable skills and potential that could be used elsewhere.

Breakdown larger company objectives into team goals: Imagine a Captain yelling, “Get me to the Island!” How does the ship then get there? Well, one team plans the course, another ensures they have enough supplies to get there, I imagine yet another is responsible for polishing the wooden legs and feeding the parrots, and perhaps another fixes the boat so it doesn’t sink on the way. Broken down this way, you can see that “Get me to the Island” is the overall goal, however each team should have its own specific objectives. I don’t have to point out the obvious, but the same is true for businesses. Saying ‘”we need to achieve X amount of dollars in revenue,” or  “we must become the leader in our industry,” simply cannot be digested into meaningful action for employees. They need leaders to translate those goals into a set of specific team objectives that are to be achieved in order for the main vessel to stay afloat.

Adjust course mid-way: If the path to success were straight and narrow, this world would be a much different place. Just as Captains must adjust their course to avoid storms or re-dock for supplies, businesses cannot set their ships on cruise control and then be shocked when they miss their target. Even though most managers have a heavy workload of their own, if they neglect to monitor and adjust the actions and performance of their reports, the ship will steer off-course quickly. Employees need timely feedback and coaching from their leaders in order to keep their sea legs. You savvy?

Luckily organizations in this century have some help which allows them to align their people and track the motherload of milestones that are being met. Using technology to track goals, identify potential, monitor performance and provide almost instant feedback & acknowledgement is possible. It take a little planning to get started but once you set sail, it’s clear skies ahead.

Since 2004, emPerform has been helping companies better align, develop, reward & retain a top-performing workforce – capable of even the most ambitious of journeys. Start your free trial here.

 i https://www.gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/time-still-money-increasing-employee-productivity-part-1

ii https://www.isquare.com/turnover.cfm

How many times each year does your company tackle the formal employee evaluation process? If you’re like most successful businesses, your manager-to-employee ratio makes this process cost effective about once every twelve months, usually close to the end of the fiscal year or the weeks leading up to the holiday season. But while a single annual evaluation keeps time investments and costs under control, an entire year can sometimes be too long for employees to wait for formal feedback and coaching.

Consider the benefits of adding an additional mid-year evaluation to your talent management strategy.

1. Coaching and follow up. Read More

personalitiesWhat do companies that use personality testing know that you don’t? On March 28th, CRG emPerform and HCI.org are presenting a FREE Webinar that looks at personalities in the workforce. Participants will learn the basics behind personality assessments and how an understanding of employee’s personalities can lead to increased engagement, better performance and communication, and overall workplace satisfaction.

Employees are most effective at work when their strongest personal traits are engaged. Understanding the science behind personality traits is essential for companies and managers to properly engage and develop an optimized workforce.

**BONUS**: Participants will be given a coupon code for a free personality test to learn more about themselves and help them develop a ‘vocabulary’ for speaking about personality in the work place.

Webinar Details:

Date: Wednesday, March 28th
Time: 2PM EDT – 3PM EDT
Presenter: Bert Goos – CEO Online Talent Manager.

bert goosBert brings a unique combination of twenty five years’ experience in assessing and developing human potential and the performance of leaders and high potentials in public and private companies.

Bert designs and delivers Executive Assessment and High Impact Leadership program to assist organizational and business leaders to create and implement solutions to a growing complex and demanding environment. He is an entrepreneur and inspiring author and speaker who applies his knowledge about human potential to teaching businesses to develop and maintain long term relationships with stakeholders. He has worked with leaders in international companies in the Netherlands in a variety of industries. In 2002, Bert founded Online Talent Manager, a web application that delivers development tools and personality testing in order to better human capital management. Online Talent Manager boasts more than 30 psychological tests developed with Andre Tjoa and Richard Still, based on the competing values model of Robert Quinn, that is used by more than 100 clients.

Registration for this webinar is on the HCI.org website.If you are already a member of HCI.org, please log in to register for the webcast. If you are not a member, you will need to sign up for a FREE HCI.org membership, this will only take you a moment to fill in the required information. Once you have confirmation of your membership, you will be able to register for this complimentary webcast.

*This live webinar has passed and has been archived. Click here to download the video.

emperform menYou asked – we listened. In our last Webinar, CRG emPerform presented a framework for Conducting Painless Performance Evaluation Meetings. During the webinar Q&A, we noticed that many of you had questions related to effective employee goal setting. Because effective goal setting drives success at every level within an organization, we decided to devote an entire session to presenting best practice goal setting insights and advice.

When: Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 2PM EDT

Where: HR.com IHR Virtual Conference

Register: click here to register*

Are you and your employees really SMAART? Specific, measurable, and attainable performance goals are the most effective tool managers can use to help employees achieve outcomes that support the organization’s goals. Yet, very few managers are able to craft goals that are motivating to employees and are clearly aligned with the organization’s objectives.

One of the most frustrating parts of being a manager is seeing employee performance fall short of expectations and not knowing why or how to fix it. Likewise, employees often say that they are unclear of what their manager really expects in terms of performance.

Marnie GreenJoin emPerform and host Marnie Green, in this one-hour webinar where we will explore why there is often a difference between what managers expect and what employees deliver. Tools for writing clear performance goals with employee input will be offered. In addition, other practical tools for involving employees in the expectation-setting process will be presented.

If you manage the work of others you won’t want to miss this practical and tool-driven session.

What will participants learn?

1) Why there is often a gap between manager expectations and employee performance

2) Tools for writing clear performance goals

3) Four kinds of performance goals

4) How to effectively involve employees in the goal setting process

5) Practical examples of best-practice performance goals

*This webinar has been archived and is available for free download here.