The EOY Review & Why You Should Do One
We’ve all read a rant or two about how the official end of year reviews don’t work. They’re dead and they’re useless. Most are written by consultants who don’t work with the same people week after week, but let’s set that aside for a moment.
A couple of weeks ago I got a text and pic from a buddy. He was cleaning out his desk. It was a picture of an official job review that he’d had seven years earlier. “Thanks for the investment.” I zoomed up and recognized the document. I knew his manager who had written some difficult things that he’d worked through and really improved on.
He was cleaning out his desk cause he was moving on after five years in his current role. I’d call him a Purple Unicorn of sorts, and the kind of player you’d want on your team. He told me he had never had a real job review at his current place of employment. Now, I’m sure his different bosses had given him feedback, of course, but his take on his five-year run there was that “they never asked.”
Every church wants to reach millennials and Gen Z. Here was one walking out the door and probably the boomers and busters are scratching their heads wondering “what happened?”
Don’t get me wrong, continual feedback loops rooted in relationships are the best source of feedback. Every one should know exactly where they stand and its on us to close that gap of misunderstanding.
Also do not engage in an official review process if it’s done to just check the box and go in a file never to be referenced again. This is probably more harmful than helpful.
But the official review can be a great thing and here are 3 ways:
Your team gets asked. Just like my buddy’s story above, when/if they leave they have a stack of documentation that shows that you cared.
It gives you, as the leader, the opportunity to celebrate them. I have pulled out a review from six months earlier and realized the things that were broken that had been fixed, and I have personally been surprised sometimes by these things. This is a great time to look back and show progress.
It gives both parties the opportunity to say difficult things. Sometimes in the heat of the battle, it’s hard to sit down and pull your thoughts together. Doing these twice a year is an opportunity for such a conversation. A great review is a review of the boss too. So be ready for what you may hear.
Feedback loops are never more important than when you have twenty-somethings on your team. Yes, they may bristle, or roll their eyes at the thought of this, but it shows them you care. Will they fully understand? No. None of us did in our young twenties, but with a couple of decades of perspective, we might.
Or as in my friend’s example, it may be sooner than you think.