As companies become increasingly data-driven, quantitative performance has understandably become the key benchmark of success for the workplace. Nearly every aspect of business operation — from sales figures to key performance indicators (KPIs) — can be tracked and measured for precise evaluation.
Quantitative performance is objective. The numbers don’t lie, the feedback is black and white, and it immediately reveals how much your employees are excelling or coming up short. This evaluation is also not subject to interpretation nor personal perspective, so the recipient is more likely to be receptive to the feedback.
Qualitative performance, on the other hand, is measured by a manager’s observation. It focuses on soft skills like communication, teamwork and adaptability, and can be a useful benchmark for positions where job success is measurable not by hard data but by other abstract qualities. After all, how do you quantify the work of a designer, or an account manager’s innate ability to keep even the most difficult of clients happy?
Even when you can measure performance, an outstanding employee usually does much more than just accomplishing their individual objectives. These intangible factors —behaviour, attitude, or personality traits — are what will separate your best employees from the rest.
What should you look for in qualitative performance reviews, and why?
1. Communication
Effective communication is vital to an organisation’s ability to operate smoothly and be productive. The ability to articulate needs, and exchange information and ideas — whether in person or virtually — is a critical aspect of getting any job done.
All the best collaborations are the result of great communication. A company with staff who can navigate this two-way street effectively is one step closer to improved productivity, success, a more positive workplace culture and better employer branding overall
2. Initiative
Going above and beyond one’s job scope shows a willingness on your employee’s part to be a valuable team member. Proactive acts such as helping struggling teammates, solving problems quickly or demonstrating critical thinking are qualities that show you exactly which employees can rise above any challenge by recognising opportunities to act or take charge.
3. Leadership
Great leaders do more than nudge profits further up the charts. There are many qualities of effective leaders that can’t be assessed using data; from thinking positively and proactively to encouraging employee growth and development. These are the people who best personify your company culture, and can motivate and mentor your team to surpass their own expectations. Also note that your best leaders may not even be in leadership or managerial positions. As author John C Maxwell puts it: Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.
4. Empathy
Displaying empathy not only creates a safe and understanding environment for employees, but also boosts morale and productivity. The impact this has on workplace relationships and performance is significant. According to famed psychologist Daniel Goleman, empathy is one of the five key components of emotional intelligence — a vital leadership skill.
Research has shown that a lack of empathy can cause employee turnover. As many as 83% of gen Z workers would choose an employer with a strong culture of empathy over one that offers a slightly higher salary. The same percentage would also consider leaving their current organisation for a similar role at a more empathetic company. Appreciating employees who demonstrate this important quality can help immensely with retaining staff in your organisation.
How the best companies measure performance
Successful companies like Google don’t measure performance the usual way. The tech giant holds two reviews annually instead of the usual one — a comprehensive version in November and a follow-up in March or April. This encourages continuity and progress, and doesn’t require managers to carry out a 12-month retrospective, which might not be an accurate representation of the full year’s performance.
Instead of top-down reviews, Google also encourages peer performance reviews, giving a more balanced overview of everyone’s progress while eliminating subjective biases. The multi-national tech company has even coined “Googliness” as a metric for its staff’s passion and drive, which explores qualities such as presence and leadership, as well as problem-solving skills. Focusing on these strengths allows the firm to define clearly what its employees are doing right, and is an opportunity to recognise those who have surpassed quantitative, measurable goals.
Partly through implementing these types of strategies, Google has continued to be known for its employee satisfaction — as many as 80% of the company’s workers say they are either extremely satisfied or fairly satisfied with their job.
At American streaming platform Netflix, personality and cohesion matter as much as benchmarked success. The company’s CEO Reed Hastings famously noted that he doesn’t tolerate “brilliant jerks” because “the cost to effective teamwork is too high”. Instead, Netflix aspires to develop a “Dream Team” — a group in which all of its employees are both extraordinary at what they do and are highly effective collaborators. This approach to teamwork and culture encourages the pursuit of ambitious common goals and also pushes employees to perform at their peak while having fun.
Event management and ticketing website Eventbrite also gives regular feedback based on non-numerical metrics. Its quarterly performance reviews are based on behaviour as well as results — thereby underlining the importance of actions to accomplishments. This encourages similar behaviour for continuous success. According to their former Head of HR Emily Couey, these reviews “help our employees feel connected to the mission of the organisation, and part of the team as a whole”. Its qualitative performance assessments are so successful in boosting workplace culture that 90% of employees at Eventbrite say it’s a great place to work, compared with 59% of employees at a typical US-based company.
A company’s performance evaluations should not solely rely on cold hard data, because the best employees do more than meet black-and-white targets. Ultimately, it is the employee achievements outside their job scopes — especially the intangible ones — that make the most impact.
This article is contributed by Michael Page.
