Many of our clients are preparing for Performance Review conversations over the coming months. We think this process should be reworded to ‘Performance and Development Review’. This title reflects a more constructive and positive discussion, structured in a way whereby these conversations are anticipated and welcomed.
If we turn the table on traditional Performance Reviews, we can use these conversations as a tool to support team members to realise their own professional goals, and motivate them to achieve business performance targets too.
Measuring success
Performance Reviews are but one tool we can use to document and motivate team members to be at their best. Motivation to achieve success doesn’t necessarily hinge on knowing how that success is measured, but these elements are clearly linked, new workplace research has found.
Monday.com’s 2025 World of Work report, based on a global survey of more than 3,700 employees, says those who understand how success is measured are more than twice as likely to feel motivated to achieve it.
Company goal transparency
The report’s authors say transparency is often seen as “fundamental to establishing organisational trust”, but that their research goes a step further, “revealing that increased transparency can enhance employee confidence in their ability to influence and benefit from the company’s success”.
Where respondents indicated satisfaction with their employer’s level of transparency, they also indicated a greater sense that their individual performance would directly impact the company’s success – and that the company’s success would “benefit them directly, creating two-way, reciprocal impact”, the authors say.
The survey showed clarity around how success would be measured was greatest at team and department levels across all companies, and that those with the strongest grasp tended to work in larger companies.
At the largest companies, however, clarity dropped, prompting researchers to suggest that, as businesses grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain understanding and motivation.
Company goal communication
The survey also found 64% of employees felt productive on an individual level, but confidence waned at the team (57%) and company (49%) levels suggesting a failure to effectively communicate across all levels.
According to the report, the disparity highlights the need for employers to bridge the gap between individual and collective performance, and between levels, fostering a stronger sense of shared purpose and accountability.
Communicating the “why” behind work
“It’s critical that we always communicate the ‘why’ behind our work,” says Monday.com head of enterprise sales, Lindsay Browning.
Ensuring metrics are clear, accessible, and relevant for employees – at all levels – helps create a culture where everyone understands their role in achieving success, she adds.
- Strategy 1. Recognition
One principle she uses to ensure this transparency is “reinforcement through recognition”, to “highlight contributions and celebrate wins that showcase how individual and team efforts contribute to achieving company-wide goals”.
- Strategy 2. Listening sessions
second approach involves “skip-level meetings” and listening sessions. These allow employees to ask questions, seek clarification, and suggest improvements. However, “leaders need to be accessible, open-minded, and even vulnerable at times to hear the voice of the team”, Browning says.
Motivating factors
Compensation emerged globally as the most frequently cited factor that boosts motivation to achieve success.
In Australia, 48% of employees rank better progression and promotion opportunities as the second greatest motivators. This is great news for SME’s as this data demonstrates a culture of self-improvement and drive. As business owners and people leaders, it’s all about how we can effectively channel this drive for mutual benefit.
Performance Reviews (or Performance and Development Reviews!), is just one tool the team at Envisage HR Solutions have rewritten to motivate, hold accountable, and align all parties to achieve annual targets. Get in touch today for best practise strategies on:
- Communicating a shared purpose
- Identifying and measuring performance success,
- Workforce succession plans & internal promotions, and,
- Leadership techniques to motivate to your amazing team.
The 2025 world of work report, Monday.com, January 2025