Learn how WorkCompass can help you to develop a more equitable performance review process
According to a CEB study nearly 9 in 10 HR leaders believe that the performance review process produces inaccurate results. While there are certainly other factors at play, this surprising statistic speaks volumes to the role that unconscious bias plays in the performance review process.
What is unconscious bias?
Unconscious bias refers to the unconscious beliefs that we hold about another person or group of people. These beliefs affect our interactions and perception of these individuals.
In our latest WorkCompass webinar, expert on workplace happiness Valerie Alexander explained that these biases are forming because our brain learns to recognize the way our organization operates as the norm. This makes us more critical of anyone who doesn't fit within the norms that we have established, which when it comes to performance reviews can result in unfair and biased feedback.
Strategies and tools for outsmarting bias in performance reviews
Now that you're more familiar with unconscious bias, it's time to find some ways to take the bias out of performance reviews. Read on for tips how you can leverage WorkCompass to create a more equitable performance review process in your organization.
1. Set SMART Goals
This is one of the first steps towards a fairer performance review process. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timebound) goals ensures that expectations are clear between Managers and their Employees. WorkCompass's SMART AI tool is there to guide you through the process. When everyone knows exactly what needs to be accomplished, there is less room for Managers' own judgment and biases to affect the outcome of performance reviews.
2. Hold more frequent check-ins
When Managers only review their Employees' performance at the end of the year, it's inevitable that final ratings are heavily influenced by recency bias. This is a type of unconscious bias that causes us to judge others based on their most recent achievements, either positive or negative.
To prevent this, WorkCompass allows you to set up regular check-ins for Managers and Employees to touch base on progress. This leaves Managers with a trail of feedback that they can use to inform their Employees' final reviews, meaning that they are based on concrete evidence gathered over the course of the year, rather than their Employees' most recent achievements.
3. Use the coaching assistant to provide constructive feedback
Despite our best intentions, feedback is often incredibly subjective and heavily influenced by unconscious biases. In fact, recent studies show that women are 1.4 times more likely to receive negative feedback than their male counterparts.
With this in mind, WorkCompass developed the coaching assistant. This built-in tool is designed to help Managers diagnose the core issue that's preventing their Employees from reaching their goals rather than relying on their gut instinct. The coaching assistant walks Managers through a series of questions. Once it has gathered enough information, it returns a written piece of objective, constructive feedback.
4. Ask peers and clients for input
Inviting peers and clients to provide feedback on performance reviews is another way to make the process less biased. While Managers may have an idea of their Employees overall performance, they might not have enough information to fairly rate them on each goal and competency.
Additional and external reviewers help with filling these gaps. WorkCompass allows you to add peers who work within the same organization as additional reviewers to a plan, while third parties, such as clients with whom an Employee has worked closely, can be asked to provide feedback on specific goals and competencies as external reviewers.
5. Leverage insights to determine patterns of bias
Some Managers tend to go to extremes when rating their Employees, resulting in overly positive or overly negative performance reviews.
The calibration report allows you to see how your organization stacks up against a normal distribution of ratings. If the scores for final reviews tend to skew to either side of the curve, that might mean that it's time to set up a calibration task force. It's important to remember that bias can still find its way into the calibration process, so make sure to follow best practices, like asking team members to provide proof of statements made about Employee's performance.
What's the bottom line?
By actively working to identify unconscious bias and using these tools to work against it, you will be well on your way to a fairer performance review process. This will not only contribute to more buy-in to the performance review process, but also improve Employee-Manager relationships.