In this first episode of a new series called “Jam Session Scenarios”, I sit with a panel of seasoned leaders - Ted Cowles, Dean DiGiacomo, and Matt Melloy. We review a few common scenarios, and a few twists and turns, as it relates to performance reviews.

• Align with each employee on the definition of ‘achieves’ and ‘exceeds’
• Remind employees ‘achieves’ is a great mark! Too often our employees feel ‘achieves’ is not doing well in the role 
• Benchmark performance and be consistent across all your employees by providing specific examples of how to achieve/exceed
• There should be no surprises if you're having continuous coaching and feedback discussions throughout the year
• Using high-performing employees as benchmarks is a delicate balance  
• Keep an open mind - there could be times where you were provided with concrete examples that you may have missed or forgotten about that justifies a higher rating