#189 How communications professionals can prove their value in a performance review

Performance reviews and goal-setting can feel like a box-ticking exercise, but they can also be a valuable opportunity for communications professionals to demonstrate the impact they have on the business. 

In this episode of the Less Chatter, More Matter podcast, we give you six practical ways to approach your performance review so it works harder for you, your team and your organisation.

We'll start with connecting your goals to strategic business priorities and measuring impact rather than outputs (very important), to identifying capability gaps, building your reputation with senior leaders and thinking about the bigger career goal you're working towards. 

More simply: this episode is about making the value of communications much easier to see.

More often than not, it feels like the bane of our existence attempting to quantify exactly what it is we do when KPIs aren't a real measure of communicating... so, how do we set realistic performance measures and goals? Find out and listen in!

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• 90 minute Strategy Power Session
• Public workshops and training
• Less Chatter, More Matter - Mel’s book
• Template packs
• Change Isn't Hard! - Mel's book
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It's that time… the dreaded performance review and goal-setting cycle comes around again. Some of you will know I have a bit of an issue with this cycle, because I've rarely seen it done well or genuinely, and in many cases, I've seen it being done as simply a way to make the bonus allocation look fair. Or goals are set and then immediately disregarded, because it's really just a tick box exercise to say you've done it. But when they are done well, you can really see a lot of growth and achievement, and as professional communicators and change managers and team leaders, we're not exempt from these processes. But it is becoming harder and harder to demonstrate our value when AI has become so ingrained in our ways of working, and some senior leaders just simply disregard what we do or have this view that anyone can do comms or anyone can do change. So if any of that resonates with you, then stick around, because

today we ask the question: 0:57

How do you show your value in a performance review and goal-setting process? And that's what our episode is all about Hi, friend, and welcome to today's new fresh episode of Less Chatter, More Matter, the communications podcast. I'm your host, Mel Loy, and I'm recording this episode on the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people here in Meanjin, also known as Brisbane. And today's episode was inspired by a friend of mine who was going through the performance review process and having a hell of a time of it for all the wrong reasons. Not her fault, but more her manager's lack of understanding. Added a dash of micromanagement as well while we're at it. But it did get us thinking about performance review and goal-setting cycles and what they can mean for professional communicators and changees. So today, I'm going to share six tips for navigating these processes so you actually do benefit from them, and so does your business. So let's get into it. Number one, and I know I've banged on about this plenty of times before, but everything we do should be tied to strategic business goals. This is the way you're going to show your value to the business, not just to your team or to your own portfolio of work. What tends to happen is that we focus on our own team's goals or even on our own individual goals, or people are told by managers, "These are your goals." But the problem with that is they may not be able to show a shift towards achieving the business goals, or you might find yourself not being able to see relevance, uh, yourself. So the first step is to go and look at your organisation's strategic plan and get to know those strategic goals or pillars that are in there. Then think about how your team, and then you specifically, your role, can help to achieve those goals. There may be some goals that you might not have a role to play at all, but there will be others where you contribute. So for example, there may be a strategic goal about being the number one choice for customers for your products and services. So your role to play in that could be helping your business' employees become advocates for your business. Um, they know what five-star customer service looks like, or you might set a goal to help change the behavior of employees so they feel empowered to make decisions that make customers happy, whatever it is. From there, you can then think about what does that look like in practice? So maybe it's about storytelling that shines a light on the bright sparks where this great work is already happening. Maybe it's offering coaching or training to people. It could be explaining your products and services in easy-to-understand and easy-to-access ways so your employees are 100% familiar with each product or service. And by doing this, you can then show a direct line of sight between the work you do every day and the business goals and how you help the business get to where it wants to go. And that's really powerful stuff. So that's number one. It's all about making sure you're aligned to strategic business goals. Number two, and we've talked about this before, be specific with your measures. But just to reiterate, we want to measure impact, not output. So there's three levels of measurement, and the first is output, and that tends to be the diff- Default for many people, and it's certainly the default for many leaders when they think about comms and change. Your outputs are the things that you do, you produce. So, for example, ten media releases, twenty intranet articles, five change plans, et cetera, et cetera. And while they are necessary, they don't show what you've actually achieved. So, for example, you might have put out ten media releases, but did that change the way anyone thought about your business, or did it get more people buying from you? You might have done ten town halls throughout the year, but did it actually make more people more engaged or build their understanding of strategy? And the big challenge with output measures is that they are measuring things that are largely AI-able now. So, for example, writing blog posts or CEO scripts, et cetera. There's nothing to say that if an executive only ever sees outputs, that they won't think they could save a lot of cash by getting AI to do that work So the next level is outcomes, and these are things we want people to know, feel, or do as a result of your communication and change work. So outcome measures could be things like people demonstrated safer behaviors following your safety campaign, or most people used the new software correctly on day one with very few calls to the help desk, or leaders said they felt really well supported and confident in leading a change program. So that's your outcomes measures. And then the final level, the big one, is impacts, and this is where your measures tie back to those business strategic goals which we just talked about. Remember that measures don't always need to be hard numbers or quantifiable either. They can be qualifiable, like feedback or observations. But an impact goal could be, for example, helping to reduce costs in the business by improving change adoption or by improving change leadership skills and confidence. Or it could be contributing to employee wellbeing and engagement improvements by implementing really good safety communication. When you do provide a measure for those impacts, try and be as specific as you can be. So for example, perhaps there's a particular question or two in the annual engagement survey you can point to and measure a difference in, or there might be regular feedback sought by, from leaders that gives you an indication of what's changed and what hasn't. It's also worth remembering that for many business impacts, comms or change might not be the only driver, so how you frame that measure matters. So for example, when we think about employee engagement, there is a lot that goes into that. Comms isn't the only lever there. There's so much more, like leadership capability and culture, employee benefits, work environment, et cetera, et cetera. So be specific about the slice of pie that your work can influence so you don't get blamed for all the other stuff. So that's number two, is making sure that you've got specific measures that measure impact. Number three, focus on where you can add value to the business. So the next kind of goals are those that you set where you can f- see a gap that you can plug in the organisation, and this is really where you can demonstrate some value and potentially make a case for funding for professional development and learning. So this is where we do a bit of an analysis of the current state against where the business wants to be, as well as what is coming down the line. If you want more information on how to do that, go back and listen to the episode I recorded with Anne-Marie Blake a few years ago, a few years ago? A few weeks ago, on horizon scanning By doing this analysis, you can identify where there are gaps in capabilities in the organisation that you might like to explore and potentially fill. So for example, maybe you could become an in-house AI expert, or you could become a leadership coach, or you could see opportunity to improve safety communication, the employee value proposition, et cetera. Find the gaps, highlight them, and then offer to fill them. This will not only demonstrate your willingness to learn and innovate, but it also showcases your business acumen, and you might be able to highlight an issue that the organisation didn't even know it had and is willingly going to invest in to fix. This is truly adding value because you're offering to fix a problem they may not have realised they had, and that could cost them without your intervention. So that's number three, focus on where you can add value. Number four, think about your reputation. What do you want senior leaders in your organisation to think about you? Right now, if you have an inkling that they think the work you do is fluff, they don't ask for your advice or listen to it when you give it, or they don't even know you exist, then you want to change that. Your performance review and goal-setting process is a perfect opportunity to work to change this because you can highlight where you need support to shift the perception. So if you want to set a goal like regular meetings with C-suite members to discuss their business goals and offer support and coaching to help achieve them, then what support do you need to help make that happen? What professional development might be useful? So, for example, maybe training in negotiating and influencing skills. Maybe you need your manager to advocate for you. Uh, you need your manager to include you in key meetings with senior leaders. You need opportunities to present at senior leadership team meetings, so maybe you need some presentation skills training. It's okay to say you need help to shift this perception, and you can use this as an opportunity to get the business to pay for that help. I would also frame this around really wanting to make a difference to the business and build relationships that help people collaborate and get stuff done. Make it about the business needs, not your own career aspirations, and you are much more likely to get buy-in. So that's number four, think about your reputation. Number five, think big. So you might have heard of the term BHAG, big, hairy, audacious goal. What is your BHAG? What's your end game or the ultimate goal that you are working towards, and how can you bring that into your goals for the next twelve months? So, for example, maybe one day you ultimately want to lead a corporate affairs function. What could you do in the next twelve months to help move you further towards that goal? So maybe it's leadership training, or maybe it's you want to expand your experience so you have insights across different areas of the business, like finance or customer experience. Maybe it's getting experience in a different area of comms that you haven't worked in before, like external comms or government relations. Each performance review and goal-setting process is an opportunity to take another step toward that big goal, so use it to your advantage. Think of the skills or experience you're going to need to achieve that end game and start working towards it by building those attributes one step at a time. And this brings me to the final point, which is be realistic. How much can you feasibly achieve in the next twelve months? Sometimes it's better to underpromise and overdeliver than the opposite. A good way to think about this is to estimate the time each goal would take to achieve in twelve months. So what would you need to do in every week or month to achieve that goal? And then add in a whole bunch of unexpected work that's probably gonna come your way. Could you even fit in some of the development that you want to do? So this is where you will need to prioritize. I like to think about it like a two-by-two matrix, and along one, you've got the business impact, and on the other scale, you've got personal impact. Or maybe you could even have that scale as just stuff you love doing. And then plot your goals in the matrix. So the goals that end up in the high business impact, high personal impact square are the things you should absolutely prioritise. And then if you think you can feasibly achieve a few more, choose from the other corners of the matrix. Those things that are in the low business impact and low personal impact square you should probably disregard.. They might be fun hobbies one day, but they're probably not going to be the things that will really move things for you. Okay, so it's time for your episode recap. And today I shared six ways you can use your performance review and goal-setting process to demonstrate your value to the business and get benefits for you and your team. And number one was always start with the business's strategic goals. What is your part to play in helping the business achieve these goals? Number two was be specific with your measures, and remember to measure impacts, not outputs, and that measures may not be something that is quantifiable but qualifiable, so- such as feedback from stakeholders or observing behavior changes. Number three, think about the value you can add. So where are the gaps in the organization's capability that you could potentially fill? Number four, think about your reputation. How do you want to be perceived by senior leaders? And what would need to change in your own capability, knowledge, and skills to make that happen? Number five, think big. What's the big, hairy, audacious goal you're personally work- working towards, and how can you make that a part of your own work goals? And number six, be realistic. It's good to have a big list of things you want to achieve, but what can you feasibly achieve in the next 12 months? And like I said, sometimes it's better to underpromise and overdeliver. All right, team. That's all we have time for today. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Less Chatter, More Matter. We are hurtling towards episode number 200. And with that, I would love to ask if there's anything specifically you'd love me to cover in the remaining episodes of this season, because at episode 200, we will be taking a little bit of a hiatus as we plan for the year ahead. So if there's something you really wanna know now, you've got a burning question, get in touch. I'm happy to have a chat. In the meantime, keep doing amazing things, and bye for now