Brendan Walsh, fellow director of Bowland Solutions, notes how the environment shapes the quality of the appraisal conversation.
It is rare that my wife and I discuss performance appraisals. It wouldn’t be a great foundation for a marriage! However, she came in yesterday evening and told a story of sitting in the coffee shop in her gym and getting to hear a performance appraisal conversation. I immediately asked “sales rep?” and she confirmed my suspicions. I don’t know the practical answer for people ‘on the road’ but the answer can’t be a coffee shop can it? Amongst other things, Liz got to hear about the sickness issues that this person had faced. Surely that’s not right?
Our advice is that you find a private place free from distraction. There are many practical constraints for this – meeting room availability, infrequency of meetings, etc. But a quick 2 minute Google search reveals that you could hire a meeting room at the nearby Premier Inn for £48 for the half day which suggests not a great deal of effort had gone into finding the location.
The broader point here is valuing that conversation. Whether it is an annual review or an ongoing monthly conversation there has to be value in it or it would be better left. And if it is valuable and you are open to a range of topics then it shouldn’t be held in the middle of a coffee shop.
Brendan
