In May of this year, Reflektive ran its inaugural Performance & Engagement survey to better understand the impact of performance management on employee engagement. The survey was sent to 1,000 U.S. employees from different industries, company sizes, and roles. We uncovered no shortage of insights, but the biggest takeaway we gleaned is: performance management plays a monumental role in employee engagement, motivation, and tenure.
Below are some of the most surprising insights we discovered, as well as best practices to improve your current performance management programs.
Feedback and Recognition
Feedback and Recognition Insights
- Employees who receive helpful feedback are over 3X more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work
- People who receive meaningful recognition when they perform well are almost 2X more likely to work at their company two years from now
- Those who like their company’s processes for reviews, feedback, and goal-setting are almost 3X more likely to work harder than they have at past companies
Feedback and Recognition Tips: Encourage employees to provide feedback right away, so it’s fresh for the feedback-giver and recipient. Feedback-givers should be specific in saying exactly what the employee did well and how they can repeat those actions in the future. Additionally, employees should connect feedback to company values, so feedback recipients can see that they’re meaningfully contributing to your organization.
Management
Manager Insights
- Employees who feel inspired by their manager are over 3X more likely to work harder than they have at past companies
- People who have managers that help them solve problems are over 2X more likely to share with others that their company has great products or services
Management Tips: Managers should ask direct reports what they’re willing to commit to; this helps them determine capacity and which projects are the best fit for the employee. Encourage managers to not automatically jump in and solve employees’ problems for them, but communicate that they’re available (if needed!) to remove barriers, provide feedback, or simply brainstorm.
DOWNLOAD THE E-BOOK: 51 Hacks to Become a Better Manager
Leadership
Leadership Insights
- 3 out of 4 employees believe their company’s leadership is open to changing their perspectives based on new information
- Less than 25% of employees feel that their leadership team acts in alignment with the stated company values
- 50% of employees do not feel that their leaders follow through on their commitments
Leadership Tips: Encourage leadership to reinforce company values in communications, such as all-hands meetings, newsletters and other channels. Encourage leaders to follow through on their commitments by saving them as company goals, and discussing them in performance reviews and 1:1 conversations.
1:1s
1:1 Insights
- Employees who have productive 1:1s with their managers are over 2X more engaged than those who don’t
- Employees who have productive 1:1s are 3X more likely to stay at their company over the next two years
- 45% of employees don’t believe their 1:1s with their managers are productive
1:1 Tips: Drive productivity by enabling employees to select relevant topics beforehand, as the most effective 1:1s are intentional and thoughtfully-planned conversations. Encourage employees to create an agenda prior to their 1:1s and own the conversation. We have some great conversation starters – developed in partnership with customers and organizational experts – in our new 1:1 offering.
SEE ALSO: The Ultimate Guide to One-on-Ones
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