When I was working for Corporate, yearly evaluations were the norm. I noticed that every employee would skip over the ten pages of recognitions for job well done, and immediately look at the “Areas for improvement” on the last page.

It frustrated me as a manager, because it completely imbalanced the focus of our conversation.

The truth is that people get a lot more traction from focusing on what they’re good at rather than what they’re not.

Usually all those weaknesses – “areas for improvement” to use politically correct language – don’t make a huge difference. If they were a real problem, you would have addressed them when they arose.

Right?

So a weakness isn’t generally a problem. A weakness might be keeping you back from career advancement, I suppose. But if that’s the case, then let’s have a great discussion about your long term aspirations.

  • What would you really like to be doing in 2, 5, 10, 20 years? Even if that kind of job doesn’t exist now in this organization?
  • What do we both think about what it will take to get there?
  • What resources and strengths do you have to grow into this desired future?
  • What will you have to learn and get better at?
  • What are the tradeoffs you’ll have to think about in moving forward this direction? (time, attention, money, etc.)
  • How can I help you?

THIS is a much more balanced and useful conversation than just throwing out a couple of things you might want to improve. We’re talking about inventing and building a person’s future.

And it’s actually helpful.