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Career Preview

This document covers how the bi-annual Career Preview is handled from the perspective of a manger. For the employee preparation, please see Career Preview - Information for Employees

It is always better to give feedback instantly and create a feedback culture in the company.

As explained best by the following two sketches

9Y Approach

Still, the performance review / career preview is important. For us, we want to follow this principle:

1. Start with the Past

360° degree feedback from colleagues is collected by the employee. See https://9y-media.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/9RPBK/pages/2203156500/Career+Preview+-+Information+for+Employees#Appendix-A---360%C2%B0-Questionnaire

You prepare your thoughts, as a Team Lead or School Lead on the areas below.
Your colleague will also prepare for the areas according to Career Preview - Information for Employees

In the meeting itself, start with the observations from everyone and discuss them. Then move on to step 2 and 3.

Structure of a Career Preview

1. The Past

The Strengths

• Which skills does this person your colleague have that are really strong?

  • Do they have great design skills?

  • Are they great communicators?

  • Are they great team players?

  • Are they very organised?

  • …

The Impact

• Which impact do they have…

  • … on the company culture?

  • … on the team?

  • … on the business?

The

• How …

  • … precise

  • … short

  • … thorough

  • … proactive

• … does this person communicate?

Weaknesses

• In which area does this person your colleague have room to improve?

  • Do the skills fit the current position?

  • Are there any improvements possible in the areas of

    • Teamplay

    • Tech

    • Leadership

    • Structure

    • … ?

The Communication

• How …

  • … friendly

  • … precise

  • … short

  • … thorough

  • … proactive

• … does this person communicate?

General Work Attributes

• Thoroughness

  • Do you get all the information you need, or do you have to ask again more often until you have the full picture?

  • Is the agreed work performed as discussed, sound and complete?

• Proactivity

  • Is the person approaching you with information, notification, questions, … or do they wait until you approach them?

• Helpfulness

  • How supportive is this person when you need help in any area?

• Extra MileHonorable Mentions

  • Is there any situation you would like to mention where this person made an extra effort which should be appreciated?

2.

The Future

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• Where do you want to be?

  • Which skills do you want to develop?

  • Which positions do you want to have?

  • Do you want to stay and improve in your current position, or do you want to change?

• What do you want to achieve?

  • If you think of a longer time frame, where do you want to be?

• Do I see you there?

  • Do I, as your Lead, see you going in this direction?

  • Do we want to go there together?

3. Plan for the Present

How can we connect the past to the future?

• How do the strengths, weaknesses, and other attributes impact the position you want to be in?

What actions can we take to make this happening?

• Can we give you a different position?

• Is there a training we can provide you with?

• Can we organise a test run in a certain position?

Is there a chance to do this?

• Do I see you in this position?

• Do we have the possibilities inside the company?

What does this imply salary / compensation wise?

• The salary discussion can be part of the Career Preview

🎭 The art of holding a Career Preview well

• Prepare your thoughts on the topics below and anything else you’d like to discuss

• After all replies are in, summarise the 360° feedback

• Start the CP with the 360° feedback

  • Do not add your thoughts from point 1 on top of it

  • Let the feedback speak for itself, but try to identify the general pattern in the answers and point it out

  • Outcome: Shared overview of the feedback from the colleagues (1/4th of the Past Picture)

• After the 360° feedback is discussed, start with the Past part

  • Give your feedback

    • The feedback from you as lead should be mostly focused on the employees field of work

  • Give the employee room to share their view

  • Make sure your counterpart (SL/TL) gives feedback from their perspective

  • Outcome: Self-view and Feedback from the TL/SL, more focused towards the field of work (3/4th of the Past Picture)

• After the Past, all of you should have a pretty extensive and complete picture of the performance

  • Take this and move on to the Future part

  • Listen in which direction the employee wants to evolve

  • React and respond to the employees wishes, with your knowledge from the 360° feedback and the Past conversation

  • Also bring in your own thoughts that you gathered upfront

  • Together, make a decision on the direction the employee would like to take

  • Outcome: Shared understanding and agreement on which career direction to take

• Take this as input and move on to the Present part

  • Identify and define concrete steps which will bring the employee closer to the Future goal

  • Outcome: Concrete list of Action Items for the employee (what to improve), and the SL/TL (enabling the employee to move into the direction)

• Don’t fall into the trap of letting the 360° feedback be the only source of feedback and just piggybacking on that. It is supposed to be just one isolated part, coequal to the feedback from the Team Lead and School Lead. Each carrying an equal third of importance. The intention is to first fully walk through the 360° feedback together, summarised by the moderator. But without bigger discussions, and without input from SL/TL on top. Let it speak for itself. Afterwards the TL/SL give their feedback, which they created upfront; independently of the 360° feedback. This should then result in a conversation where the employee also gives its view on the points.