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Employee performance reviews: A leader’s guide

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Leading Off

Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities
An image linking to the web page “Generative AI and the future of HR” on McKinsey.com.

Many leaders are likely to balk at using smart technologies for performance appraisals. But McKinsey partner Bryan Hancock suggests that rather than substituting for human contact, tools such as generative AI can complement face-to-face discussions. “One of my personal favorite uses for generative AI on the people front is actually for performance reviews,” he says. “Hear me out: I don’t want generative AI actually generating somebody’s performance review. But what if I could hit a button and get a draft? That initial synthesis would help me get more quickly to what I really need to probe for that person’s development and growth.” In turn, the employee being evaluated could use gen AI to visualize and map detailed professional objectives, adds McKinsey senior partner Lareina Yee, noting that the technology offers “a lot that enhances what we’ve been trying to do so laboriously for years.”

That’s McKinsey senior partner Clarisse Magnin-Mallez on receiving and delivering feedback in thoughtful ways. She observes that thorough preparation is essential for providing feedback that helps enhance different aspects of people’s professional lives—their relationships with clients, behavior as leaders, and interactions with teams. And while it’s never easy to give people negative feedback, it can be framed in positive terms, suggests McKinsey senior partner Liz Hilton Segel. “They have seen the world from a different vantage point,” she says. “If you approach the conversation with a mindset that you’re bringing them a new perspective, what can seem like a really difficult conversation to have can be a gift to another person and help them become a more effective manager or leader.”
An image linking to the web page “Author Talks: How to speak confidently when you’re put on the spot” on McKinsey.com.

“Constructive feedback is very challenging, and performance reviews can be the bane of people’s existence,” says author and educator Matt Abrahams in a discussion with McKinsey on how to communicate confidently when put on the spot. He suggests reframing negative feedback as a problem-solving initiative, using what he calls a “what, so what, now what” framework. “The ‘what’ becomes your feedback,” he says. “The ‘so what’ is why your feedback is important. The ‘now what’ is what you’d like to see people do differently.” It may also help to offer praise occasionally to offset any critical comments. “You’re essentially making deposits in the ‘bank account,’” says Abrahams. “If I give you praise throughout the calendar year and then have to give you some pretty direct negative feedback, it’s not so painful when I make a withdrawal, because I’ve already put some of that praise into the bank.”
An image linking to the web page “Capability building in 2030” on McKinsey.com.

Lead by performing well.

— Edited by Rama Ramaswami, senior editor, New York

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by "McKinsey Leading Off" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 02:41 - 9 Oct 2023