Hey entrepreneur,
I've screwed up a lot of performance reviews.
More than I'd like to admit.
But the biggest mistake I ever made wasn't giving someone a bad score.
It was avoiding the conversation entirely.
Here's what happened:
We had a team member... let's call her Margaret. Great culture fit. Everyone loved her.
But her work? Consistently behind. Consistently incomplete.
I knew it. Her manager knew it. And honestly? The rest of the team knew it too.
But we didn't say anything.
Why? Because she was so nice. Because we didn't want to create conflict. Because we kept thinking, "Maybe next quarter she'll figure it out."
So we gave her threes across the board and told ourselves it was fine.
Meanwhile, two of our top performers quit within six months.
When I asked why, one said: "I just don't think this is the right fit anymore."
The other was more direct: "I'm tired of being the only one who seems to care."
Neither mentioned Margaret by name. They didn't have to.
They were tired of picking up her slack. They were tired of watching us accept "fine" when they were giving everything.
And they were right.
Here's what I learned...
The conversation is the point.
The scores matter. The grid matters. But what actually improves performance (and keeps your top people) is the conversation that comes after.
The hardest part isn't the scoring. It's sitting across from someone and telling them the truth.
But here's the thing: Your top performers already know the truth.
They see who's underperforming. They see who you're tolerating. They see who's coasting.
And when you don't address it, they lose respect for you.
Not because you're mean. But because you're not willing to have the hard conversation.
The review isn't just about the person you're reviewing. It's about everyone watching to see if you'll actually hold the standard.
That's why in the Team Impact Toolkit, we give you the 1:1 template that turns the review into a real conversation.
You'll get the full template, the scoring grids, and the exact questions to ask.
Get the Toolkit (Free) →
Monday, I'll send you one more email about what happens if you don't fix this.
-Ryan
P.S. Margaret eventually left the company. Not because we fired her... because we finally had the conversation.
Turned out she was miserable too.
She knew she wasn't performing. She was just waiting for someone to acknowledge it. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is tell the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment