Mid-Year Review Time

This week on our social platforms, we launched videos providing tips around mid-year reviews. We promote organizations having formal review periods and believe they serve many purposes including alignment of goals, expectations, and performance. Additionally, if done correctly, they greatly impact engagement, moral, and team member development.

Below are five areas we covered from the employer/employee lens along with corporate and small business perspectives. Enjoy!

Founder Jose Samayoa talks mid-year reviews.

00:00

It is June, and that means that mid-years are right around the corner.

00:03

An absolutely critical time for both employees and employers.

00:08

On the employer side, it's an opportunity to sit down with your team member, review expectations, and give feedback on performance.

00:16

For the employee, this is your time to get selfish.

00:20

One-on-one with your leader, ask those questions about your performance, are you meeting goals, and anything else that you believe is going to help you and your career track.

Founder Jose Samayoa talks about mid-year reviews from the Leader lens.

00:00

If I'm a team leader and I'm preparing for the mid-year, I'm going to get a couple things ready.

00:06

So first and foremost, hopefully throughout the year, you have been keeping a log.

00:14

The log should maintain the good, the bad, and everything in between to help you in these moments when you're either doing the write-up or about to have the conversation.

00:24

Now, easier said than done, and do as I say, not as I do because the year would always start with my log, and then it would fizzle throughout, and it would just make this process that much harder where I had to start thinking through and recollecting like, oh, what happened here, calendar dates, old emails.

00:39

But maintaining that log throughout the year is very helpful in these situations.

00:43

The other tidbit tip that I would give is make sure that you schedule this meeting.

00:49

This isn't a tap on the shoulder.

00:51

This isn't a, hey, you're walking by, hey, let's get together later for your mid-year.

00:55

Make sure that you schedule it well in advance.

00:58

to A, show mutual respect, but then B, to give your team member the opportunity to prepare themselves for that conversation.

01:06

Give them that heads up, give them the respect of scheduling in advance so they know it's approaching and that they can prepare for it themselves.

01:13

And then lastly, what I would just say is be prepared to have a good conversation.

01:19

I think there's sometimes a misconception that the mid-year is just all bad, pointing out the bad, pointing out whether you need improvement, pointing out just potentially negativity.

01:31

No, what I would say is that this is a wholistic approach.

01:33

This is a, here is how the year has been going, these are the expectations, these are the goals, this is what we've talked about, and here's where we're at.

01:43

And it's an opportunity to share all the good, to share all the ways that this team member has helped the organization and the business unit, and just an opportunity to also help the bond between manager and team member and hopefully everyone leaves that room feeling good after a strong and honest conversation between the two of you.

Founder Jose Samayoa describes what a mid-year, or any review, should not be.

00:00

If you are the leader of this team, let's talk about what the mid-year is not.

00:06

And this is probably one of the biggest booby traps that I see, one of the biggest misconceptions of these reviews.

00:12

The mid-year is not the time to go in and blindside a team member and tell them everything that they've been doing wrong.

00:21

It's not the time to say, hey, three months ago on this project, this is what I saw, and then two months ago I heard this, and then last month this is what we're what we're seeing.

00:31

That feedback should be given periodically throughout the year during your scheduled one-on-ones.

00:36

Quite frankly, when you walk into a mid-year, there should be no surprises.

00:41

You should understand or have an understanding of where that team member sits, and so should the team member if the conversations that should have been happening throughout the year have been happening.

00:50

But I'll say again, the mid-year is not the time to walk in and tell a team member everything that they've been doing wrong and where they need to have improvement.

Founder Jose Samayoa talks about keeping composure during mid-year reviews.

00:00

Let's talk composure.

00:03

I will tell you that a conversation such as this mid-year, year-end, quite frankly, is difficult on both sides.

00:11

It is not easy on both sides.

00:12

It's not easy receiving feedback, and at times it is not easy giving feedback.

00:18

But I cannot stress enough that no matter what position it is that you hold, you have got to maintain your composure.

00:25

Regardless of the feedback that you're giving, it may be very difficult,tough feedback or the feedback that you are receiving.

00:34

You have got to maintain your composure and do your best to listen.

00:38

Now, you may be a part of these conversations and you may not like what it is that you're hearing, and now suddenly fight or flight kicks in.

00:46

Your heart begins to pump.

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Your mind begins to race.

00:51

And what can happen in that situation is that you begin listening to respond rather than listening to listen.

00:59

So I can't stress enough, if you are the receiver of the feedback, even if you are not loving what it is that you're hearing, maintain your composure, do your best to listen and to understand, ask any follow-up questions that are necessary to truly put yourself in the shoes of this person giving you the feedback and why they may think that, whatever it is that they're telling you.

01:24

And then if you are on the giving side, you're the one giving that feedback, you make sure that you confidently give that feedback if there is follow-up, if there are points that are being given where someone may be countering, same thing.

01:38

Maintain that composure, control that fight or flight, listen to listen, not to respond.

01:45

And both of you do your best to have a cordial conversation where you both do not forget that you are on the same team with equal goals.

[We'd like to add an additional insight that we should have included: if the room heats up beyond what it should or if you need a moment to gather yourself, it is 100% OK to pause, acknowledge what's happening, and schedule to finish at another time.]

Founder Jose Samayoa compares how corporate and small business may handle mid-year reviews.

00:00

I think a lot of the feedback that I've given around mid-years has really been with big corporate in mind.

00:06

big corporate, lots of layers of personnel and resources.

00:10

So as I talk about sharing goals, giving goals, sharing business plans, having things scheduled, on the big corporate side, that is very natural.

00:22

But what I have seen throughout my journey is that sometimes when you get away from big formal corporate, that's not always the case.

00:30

there's one example that comes to mind where I have seen on the small business side that mid-years are not really a thing.

00:37

And then I've also seen it where any sort of review is sort of sporadically scheduled, not necessarily a mid-year, year-end sort of thing.

00:48

It could be based on hire date, it could be an anniversary, something along those lines.

00:53

My recommendation to any business owner, any team leader out there that may be listening to this is strongly consider getting into a mid-year and year-end cycle.

01:07

Strongly consider setting the stage to have those conversations with your team, to be able to share team goals, to be able to share business performance.

01:20

You have to be living under a rock right now, not to see everything that's going on, depending on your industry, tariffs, war, all these crazy things going on with employers.

01:31

I think that there's a lot of team members right now that would appreciate getting some insights, a glimpse into the business, a glimpse into how things are going.

01:41

And in those conversations, really, they serve twofold.

01:44

And I can't stress this enough.

01:46

First and foremost, I think when it comes to you being that leader and needing things out of your team, especially if you're that small business, the team may not be that big.

01:57

You need team members to carry equal weight.

02:00

You need team members to meet certain expectations in order for the business to be successful.

02:04

So that is the time to be able to share those goals and give that feedback.

02:08

But then for #2, it greatly helps the relationship between employer, employee, team leader, and team member.

02:18

When a team member is able to listen to your feedback, know that you have their back, know that you're talking to them from a place of, hey, I'm sharing this with you because I want you to improve, because I want the best out of you, because I want you to hit your full potential.

02:33

It does wonders for the relationship.

02:36

And I think right now, for, again, for anybody who may not be in that cycle, even if you are having the reviews and they could be sporadic or anniversary, whatever it may be, six months of the year is about to be down.

02:49

Having a conversation with your team members about how the business is doing, how the team is doing, and how they are performing, I think can do wonders.