Q&A with Siobhan Calderbank: Performance Management During COVID

By Luisa De Jesus, CHRP, CHRL

Performance management is a process by which managers and employees work together to plan, monitor, and review an employee’s work objectives and overall contribution to the organization. It’s so much more than the annual performance review where managers and employees sit down towards the end of the year and discuss performance. It truly is an ongoing communication-focused process of setting objectives, assessing progress and providing ongoing coaching and feedback, to ensure that employees are meeting their organizational and career objectives.

To help us learn more about how to do performance management the right way, Luisa sat down with Siobhan Calderbank. Siobhan is an experienced Director of Talent Management at the LCBO, keynote speaker, recognized learning leader and consultant, and award-winning author. Siobhan has over 20 years of experience in transforming businesses, leading change and developing leaders. She’s spoken internationally to thousands of people from over 70 countries at conferences, events, seminars and planning sessions to motivate individuals to work more collaboratively with their team members.

Q&A With Siobhan Calderbank: Performance Management During COVID

1. Performance management is something that is essential to the success of every organization. How has COVID impacted both the importance and structure for effective performance management?

COVID has made an impact on performance management in many ways. Most employees during COVID are struggling through their own personal issues such as isolation and feeling a lost sense of security.  When we’re focusing on performance management, it’s difficult to get people on board because their mindset is likely low on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, very focused on security and safety for themselves and their family at the moment. As you start moving up that Hierarchy, there exists a deep sense of wanting to belong. As a manager, it’s important to make them feel that sense of belongingness by checking in with them frequently. 

At the same time, the business still needs to perform, and employees need to be held accountable for their role. However, it’s important to be open to allowing employees to complete the work in different ways, as many organizations have had to shift to a work-from-home model. 

For this reason, it’s a great time to revisit those performance objectives, assess what the actual priorities are, what’s shifted, what’s being done differently and how we can still get to that desired result. When employees know that you care about them as individuals, they are going to put forth discretionary effort to achieve their performance goals. 

2. In your opinion, how often should managers and employees talk about performance (formally and informally), and what should a proper performance management schedule look like?

I firmly believe you should be having informal conversations all the time. I think it’s really important for people to get continuous feedback so that they know how they’re doing. Two of the most frequent questions that employees want to know are, “How am I doing?” and “How does my job impact the direction of the organization?” The more feedback you provide, the more adjustments they can make if they are off track.  

I think it’s important to have at least one formal meeting with your employee per year, ideally two, because at least you have a mid-point where you can check-in. If they’re off track you can provide additional support and resources to help them get back on track. By having those continuous meetings, there won’t be any surprises if someone misses their performance targets. 

If an open dialogue is kept, everyone is on the same page when the performance review meeting takes place. 

3. Another area of your expertise is change management. You’ve successfully integrated change management strategies in a four-step process to increase the engagement, innovation, performance and resilience of your team during these times of disruptive change. Can you give us some insight into the four-step process and what some of your best recommendations are for how employers can manage performance within an organization?

Many years ago I worked for the Gaming Industry. I look at change almost like you’re throwing a dice. In this four-step process, DICE is the acronym for managing change. 

D - Determine the need and readiness for change. 

• For there to be a need for change, there has to be something that’s not working, or can be improved upon. You need to consider if the organization is ready for this kind of change. Asking questions such as, “Do we have the structures to support? Do we have the right resources? Can we really make this happen?” It requires you to express a very compelling vision of what that future state is going to look like. 

I - Influence people to commit to change. 

• Now this is not always easy, especially when people are resistant to change.  When you have a lot of change, people go through change fatigue. So you want to be very considerate as you’re communicating the changes, and do it in a way that’s going to demonstrate compassion and empathy. For people to really get on board, they need to understand why the change is taking place and how they are going to be supported.

C - Collaborating and engaging people to start trying out the new change. 

• You want to ensure that you’re encouraging the engagement level. It’s not going to work unless people start to try it, and get positive reinforcement that they’re doing a really great job. 

E - Executing a sustainable change plan. 

• This looks at defining systems, structures, policies, and procedures. Once the change has been implemented, it has to stick so people won’t revert back to old behaviours.

4. How can people connect with you outside of today’s conversation?

I can be reached on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/siobhancalderbank/

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At LD Human Resources, we believe that your people are your most valuable asset. Taking the time to set-up an effective performance management structure ensures that your team has a foundation for success within your company. 

To learn more about how you can optimize your performance management, be sure to schedule a free consultation with us by clicking on the button below.

About the Author

As the Founder and President of LD Human Resources, Luisa is a highly motivated and results-driven human resources professional with over 20 years’ experience in HR. Luisa is a Certified Human Resources Professional and holds a BA from the University of Toronto. She also graduated with honours, obtaining her Human Resources Management certificate in 2010.

Luisa’s expertise spans professional and financial services, construction, travel and tourism, IT, not-for profit and retail. Her key strengths include: strategic consulting; performance management, succession planning; recruitment and employee relations; organizational development and learning; and, compensation and benefits. Luisa is committed to high professional standards that link HR best practices to business objectives, delivering results within changing environments. She is a proud mother of two strong-minded young girls, and an advocate for mental health and wellness.