It’s that time again: annual performance check-ins, calibrations, and evaluations.
It is a time for celebrations and exciting frontiers for you, your peers, and your reports. But this is not the overriding feeling we get when this time comes by. We drag our feet, a heaviness sets in – a trepidation of things to come. We wait until the Friday 5pm deadline to hit ‘Submit’ and then heave a sigh of relief!
But why are performance evaluations so exhausting instead of being energizing and motivating? Why do they trigger our amygdala or fight-or-flight response? And, why, in spite of spending hours of time writing, reviewing, calibrating, and communicating performance feedback, do we still walk away disappointed and dissatisfied?
I don’t believe engineers lack motivation, I believe it is the systems that fail to create an environment for engineers to make magic.
