IN THIS ISSUE:

What’s New in Performance Reviews. We take a look at what’s hot, what’s not, and what’s tried-and-true in the good ol’ performance review. Read article

Frog Pond: Reflections from a Values-Based Organization. Values-driven Companies Attract Top Quality Employees. Looking for top talent and good fit? Start with your company’s values. Read article

What’s Out There. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Marshall Goldsmith shows there’s a lot to be learned from “feedback” and “feedforward”. Read article

The Culinary Coach. Irish Cream French Toast. We know you’ll love this perfect warm-up for a cool fall morning. It’s not really like drinking before noon, honest. Read recipe

If you would like a printable version of this newsletter, please visit www.sageportfoliogroup.com/archives.html

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What’s New in Performance Reviews
By Jennifer Dawson

I’ve participated in my share of performance reviews, both as employee and supervisor, but I’m certainly no expert on the subject. So I turn to one of Sage Portfolio Group’s in-house experts, Ileana Vassiliou, for her “review of reviews”.

I ask Vassiliou what style of review has largely been discarded. The simplest kind of review, she explains, evaluates an employee’s performance according to descriptors like punctuality, quality of output, and workplace relationships. If the descriptors are poorly defined or lack measurable standards, the review will be inadequate because feedback can’t be linked to achievement of expectations, and can’t be used for goal setting. “Let’s say an employee was told in her review that she had a problem with being late. If no one in the company has defined what ‘being punctual’ means or established a way of measuring punctuality, there’s a problem with the review process,” Vassiliou explains. A better way to conduct such a review would be to establish specific measures. “For someone employed as a writer,” Vassiliou says, “quality could be measured according to number of edits required per manuscript. High quality might be considered an average of 10 edits, while moderate quality might be a 15 edit average.”

I’m curious about what is ‘old school’ in performance reviews, but worth preserving. “The easiest part of the performance review is setting objectives and outcomes for people and measuring accomplishments against the expectations,” Vassiliou says. “That worked before and still works now.”

So what does Vassiliou see as “hot” in performance reviews right now? “The main thing that’s new is separating the ‘review’ from the ‘development conversation’,” she explains. “Current best practice is to have these at different times of the year, because when they’re put together, the development piece gets shortchanged.” The review is about the past: assessing accomplishments, determining areas where expectations were not met, and identifying the supports needed to meet expectations in the future. The review is also where compensation is discussed. “The development conversation,” Vassiliou continues, “is future oriented and is not tied to money. It’s more like coaching the employee. It might sound something like this: What are your strengths? How can you deploy them better in the present and in the future? What experiences do you need to grow in your current job? What’s your next career goal? Is it a fit for your talents? How can we get you there?”

Vassiliou provides an example of an exceptional Fortune 100 company that has separated the review and development conversation. The traditional performance review component happens annually and evaluates the employee’s achievement of goals that are aligned with the organization’s strategic plan. “This way,” Vassiliou says, “employees know how they’re making a difference.” The mid-year review is a coaching or career development conversation, which helps determine where the employee will move next. “This conversation is crucial, because this particular company moves people into a different role every 18 months. The move is determined by looking for synergy between individual and organizational development needs.”

Having a development conversation with an employee without the added stress of evaluation and compensation makes a lot of sense. It’s a prime example of cutting-edge meets common-sense, and makes me wonder why we ever did it any other way.

 

Values-driven Companies Attract Top Quality Employees
By Melanie Parish

Being a values-based company has always had intrinsic value to me as owner and President of Sage Portfolio Group. I am proud of our company’s five values: ‘beauty and quality’, ‘innovation and science’, ‘absolute integrity’, ‘teamwork and collaboration’ and, finally, ‘frog pond’, which is my personal favourite and the namesake for this monthly column. We put these values front-and-centre in our materials and on our website (check out their full description at http://www.sageportfoliogroup.com/our_values.html).

Recently, I discovered some more tangible rewards associated with being a values-based business. I placed an ad online and in our local paper for an assistant and was amazed at the results. My desk was flooded with nearly 100 resumes for this entry level position, and the quality of the candidates and their alignment with our values was strong.

I got long letters from people who shared that they had been to our website and felt like they really fit our company culture. Some told me that sage had special meaning in their lives and that they already felt a connection to us. One lovely candidate brought homegrown sage to the job interview. We had incredibly talented--perhaps even overqualified--candidates who just wanted an opportunity for employment with a company doing meaningful work and living its values.

I have known for a long time that finding amazing talent is one of the best ways to create a company that does great work. This experience showed me how living—and advertising—our values has verifiable benefits to us for improving our talent pool. Our values not only provide a roadmap for where we are going, they also help us find amazing guides to take us there.

A warm welcome to Sage Portfolio Group’s two new hires: Catherine Silverglen and Marianne Sandvall. We hope both of you enjoy the view from the frog pond.

Frog Pond: Reflections from a values-based organization is a monthly column that explores our development as a company, with particular emphasis on how we express, honour, model and grapple with our organizational values. The title for the column comes from the last, but perhaps most profound, of the five values upon which Sage Portfolio Group has been built. We call it “frog pond”. Sitting beside the frog pond at Sage Portfolio Group’s head office in Dundas, Ontario on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine and meal made from locally grown organic produce has taught us to value local roots and global consciousness, quiet contemplation and sharing with others, dreaming big and common sense. Articles written for this column take the abstract principles of Sage Portfolio Group’s “frog pond” value and make them both real and useful. Dip your toe to test the water … or dive right in!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There
By Jennifer Dawson

Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach who has worked with CEOs from close to 100 of the world’s largest corporations, is a big fan of the 360 degree performance evaluation. In his book, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”, he explains with wit, insightful anecdotes and self-depreciating humour how an evaluation strategy that seeks input from individuals across an organization—direct reports, superiors and peers—can be of fundamental value to successful people who want to eliminate the annoying interpersonal habits that are holding them back.

Goldsmith recommends using the 360 in a way that is enlightening, empowering and innovative. Rather than wait for the formal feedback process or performance review, he advises that people seek feedback on their own to determine areas they need to change. He identifies 21 “habits” that become behavioural barriers to success, recommends strategies for seeking meaningful 360 feedback from co-workers and offers concrete tools to help with follow-through.

In the book he coins the term “feedforward”. Unlike “feedback”, which provides facts about the past, “feedforward” is a way to obtain ideas for the future. Instead of asking co-workers “What do you think of me as a listener?”, the question becomes, “What are some ways I can become a better listener?” The information that is received is concrete, action-oriented and specific to the relationship the “asker” has with the individual asked. Goldsmith recommends that, once a problem has been identified—be it not listening, negativity, passing judgment or any of the other bad habits explained in the book—colleagues, direct reports, life partners, children, and superiors are asked for their advice. “More than anything,” Goldsmith states, “feedforward creates the two-way traffic I love to see in the workplace, the spirit of two colleagues helping each other, rather than a superior providing a critique.” Feedforward provides the information and the impetus to truly change behaviour.

What's Out There is a monthly column highlighting thought leaders and trail blazers in the business world today -- people, organizations or subjects that push boundaries, break down barriers or build bridges in novel or unexpected ways.

 

Irish Cream French Toast & Maple Syrup Sauce

As a former Bed & Breakfast owner, I feel like I’ve been in charge of my very own test kitchen. Some breakfasts were eaten quietly. Others received warm compliments when we cleared the dishes. Our favourites were the ones we could hear being eaten from the next room, “oohs” and “ahhhs” of appreciation accompanying every bite. We can confidently claim that this recipe is in the “ooh” “ahh” breakfast category, which makes it kind of perfect for our issue on reviews!

Both the toast and the sauce call for Irish Cream, and you can use Bailey’s Irish Cream or any substitute. I use an Ontario Irish Cream that has real cream and uses a wine base instead of a whiskey base, but use what you prefer.

French Toast

1 loaf of high quality unsliced French bread. Chose a larger-sized loaf, not a baguette
4 eggs
1/3 cup Irish Cream
dash salt
butter

Slice bread into slices about ½ inch thick. Whisk eggs, Irish Cream, and salt in a flat bottomed dish. Dip slices of bread into the egg mixture on both sides. Cook on medium on a well-buttered griddle or skillet until browned. Serve with Maple Syrup Sauce.

Maple Syrup Sauce

2 tablespoons Irish Cream
1/3 cup real maple syrup

Heat together until butter is melted (I use the microwave for 30 seconds). Serve warm with French Toast. This is very rich - a little goes a long way.

The Culinary Coach is Melanie Parish, founder and CEO of Sage Portfolio Group. Good food is about culture, community, family, physiology and fun. Each month we share one of Melanie's tried-and-true recipes, or some of her kitchen wisdom, in celebration of the power of food to strengthen, nurture and inspire. Cheers!

This month's contributors:

Melanie Parish, CPCC, PCC, is an accomplished speaker; executive and team coach; entrepreneur; and is the founder of Sage Portfolio Group. She has a 20 year background in sales, marketing and business development. Melanie regularly works with business owners who want to create incredible, profitable businesses. She has been a coach since 1999. Melanie is certified through the International Coach Federation and The Coaches Training Institute.

Jennifer Dawson is a cultural anthropologist, researcher and writer for Sage Portfolio Group.

About The Leading Edge:
The Leading Edge is published monthly by Sage Portfolio Group and written for a readership that includes coaching clients, human resource professionals, business leaders, fellow coaches and the occasional aspiring gourmand. Our goal is to offer a combination of wisdom and wit--sourced from our own in-house experts and other respected leaders in the field--in an easy-to-access e-zine format. A hard copy version is published bi-annually. We welcome editorial questions, comments and story ideas; please direct these to the editor, Jennifer Dawson, at jen(at)sageportfoliogroup.com. If you find value in the articles we invite you to pass them on to a friend with the recommendation to sign up directly for The Leading Edge at www.sageportfoliogroup.com. Articles from The Leading Edge can be reproduced in an in-house publication provided that Sage Portfolio Group is credited for the article.