How to Apply a Growth Mindset to Performance Management
Traditional performance reviews are in the midst of a serious overhaul. Not only are they a massive headache to administer, but there are also multiple studies which suggest that this approach actually hurts employee engagement. Thus, continuing on as normal is likely to have an overall negative effect on your company’s productivity.
Ignoring this problem is no longer an option for businesses that want to stay competitive, but how can your company tackle the issue effectively? It all comes down to your mindset.
The core issue here is what’s referred to as a “fixed mindset”. Fixed mindsets prevent growth and development in favor of doing things “as they’ve always been done.” Today’s post will explore the concept of a fixed mindset versus a “growth mindset” and how you can steer your business into a growth mindset for better overall performance.
The Fixed Mindset
Extensive studies have been done regarding mindset and its effects on how we achieve our potential. The fixed mindset holds the belief that intelligence and talents are hardwired at birth, which means that you either “have it” or you don’t, based on your inherent nature, because it’s just who you are.
The annual performance management process is an example of this mindset. The focus is purely retrospective through an entire year’s performance and breaking it down rather than helping the employee focus on progress and development. The feedback in these conversations is largely outdated, vague and often even irrelevant because it only deals with past actions.
This manner of evaluation is proven to often leave employees disheartened, defensive and demotivated. After all, nobody wants to sit through an entire year’s worth of criticism, even if it is well-meant. By offering no opportunities for real change, the annual performance review says nothing but “either you have it or you don’t.”
The simple truth is that if you cannot help your employees grow, your competition will. The good news, however, is that it isn’t too late to change.
The Growth Mindset
The growth mindset is the alternative to the fixed mindset, and it has repeatedly been proven to be the catalyst for tremendous achievement. It’s the belief that skills can always be improved and that failures are simply setbacks to be learned from.
In today’s competitive business world, a growth mindset is critical for success. Companies must be able to constantly adapt, learn from failures and hold the belief that every employee has a higher potential to achieve.
The growth mindset is the only way your business can flourish, which raises the question:
How can you incorporate a growth mindset into performance reviews?
Continuous Performance Management
Applying this knowledge of a growth mindset to your employee evaluations is simple. Instead of relying on an annual critique of past performance, give your employees consistent guidance towards future goals. An approach that is centered around frequent, real-time feedback will help them grow while keeping them on track to meet your organization’s goals.
This transformation has already been adopted by industry leaders such as Adobe, Deloitte, General Electric and Goldman Sachs with great success. With the traditional review model, employees tend to get defensive and cannot accept any guidance because they feel as though they are being judged and criticized in a very final way. By shifting towards ongoing, specific feedback in the moment, your employees will accept the coaching and use it to become better in the future. Now the year-end review is an ongoing conversation about growth and setting goals, which employees will be more receptive to.
A great quote by Adobe illustrates this perfectly:
“Even when bad news was given, it was timely and provided another pulse-point into how to improve performance. Because conversations occurred constantly, the bad news was not as traumatic as it had been when it was part of an annual review.”
By accelerating the feedback cycle, every one of these companies has enabled their employees to show significantly higher levels of development, collaboration, and overall success.
Turning Challenges Into Opportunities
The ever-shifting economic landscape means that almost every industry is in the midst of upheaval. Currently, a record number of companies report that their biggest issue in the workforce is a constantly widening skills gap. At the same time, most companies also realize that they cannot simply recruit their way out of this issue.
Ignoring the constant technological and demographic changes is costing companies dearly, but it’s not too late to change. A growth mindset will allow your organization to turn this challenge into an opportunity for development and success. Continuous performance management will enable you to close skill gaps, develop leaders and attract quality talent, all while engaging and motivating your employees.
If you want to apply a growth mindset to your business, reach out to us. Our continuous performance management solution enables ongoing feedback among employees and frequent conversations between employees and managers. This lightweight solution will help you engage and empower your employees to exceed your organization’s stated goals.
