Funworld May 2008

Perfecting Performance Reviews

by Mike Bederka

Common misconceptions and mustdos for job evaluations

WHEN DONE PROPERLY, A PERFORMANCE REVIEW can be a vital tool to help employees grow and become future stars in a family entertainment center. However, if done poorly, a job appraisal can be filled with anxiety and tension, and perhaps even lead to a lawsuit.

Where do you stand when sizing up your staff?

Setting the Stage
Performance reviews will contain less conflict and become much easier if you spend the time upfront to find the right staff, explains Gregg Borman, senior vice president of the FEC division for Palace Entertainment, headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

Larry Davis, owner of Davis’ Farmland and Davis’ Mega Maze, both in Sterling, Massachusetts, follows a similar philosophy. His job candidates go through an intense twoday hiring process where they meet all the managers and play all the games.

Davis wants to see how they interact individually and in a group setting. Then, if they pass those tests, they earn the job and the training begins, he says.

Once an employee gets the thumbs up, management must lay down the groundwork for the position, Borman stresses. This will help to avoid surprises down the line. “It’s critical that you give them what the job description is, what the expectations are, and what they’re going to be measured against,” he describes.

One of the most significant challenges managers, supervisors, and owners have is to define what they expect in behavioral terms, says Sheila Birnbach, president of the human resources consulting firm GB Associates Inc., in Rockville, Maryland. “Too often we define it in terms of telling people what kind of personality we expect them to have and not what we expect them to do,” says Birnbach, who has done work for the FEC industry.

Constant Feedback
In many jobs, people only have annual reviews, with little or no feedback in between. Birnbach believes that’s a huge mistake. “The more often, the better,” she says. “Minimally, it should be quarterly. It’s difficult to remember accurately the performance of an employee 10 or 11 months ago.”

Plus, the kids of today appreciate jobs where they can develop skill sets, she says. Constant contact with their superiors helps to do that. Borman emphasizes to his managers that staffers should routinely hear what they’ve done right and wrong—a rule that many FECs don’t follow. “We are not honest in evaluating people,” he notes. “We tend to not give as much corrective criticism as they should get. And at the same time, we don’t always give them as much praise as they should get.

“Sometimes it’s just a pat on the back or just telling somebody, ‘Really great job today,’” Borman continues. “Simple words of encouragement can go a lot further than a 10

words of encouragement can go a lot further than a 10-cent raise. If people are happy and feel they’re being treated fairly, they tend to work harder and be a longterm employee.”

Davis also strives to reduce employee turnover and always looks for ways to improve staff morale. One way he does this is by starting every day with a “morning gaggle.”
At these informal meetings, managers and often Davis himself share guest feedback—both positive and negative—with the employees. They give tips on areas for improvement or advice on how to deal with customers.

Reviews Vary
Davis’ frontline staff members generally don’t have formal sit-down reviews. Instead, new hires undergo a 60-day trial period, where the managers keep a close eye on them. “We
hold the fire under their feet,” he quips. “If someone is not doing a good job, it stands out like a sore thumb.”

Oftentimes, underperforming employees have just landed in the wrong area of the facility for their personality and skills,Davis says; a shift fromfood services to the gift shop, for example, frequently will fix any problems. “Unless something egregious happens, we will never [abruptly] fire someone,” he says. “We have invested far too much in them.”

With the review for the managers, though, things turn “sort of corporate,” Davis says.At the end of the season, each manager comes in for a full-day formal appraisal.An oral portion takes up the first chunk of the day; topics include strengths, areas of improvement, and allocation of their time. Then, they move on to the written section with questions like:What would you do to improve another area of the business that is not under your control?What do you think other managers would want you to improve? Where do you see yourself in this business in five years?

Discussion about the written review immediately follows. “Ideas are lightly played with, flushing out further thoughts while examining for hidden problems,” Davis details. “Over
the next few weeks, themanagers are asked to submit proposals for what they will need in the new season on a status-quo operational level and at a brainstorming, shoot-for-the-future level.”

Formal reviews also vary by position at Palace-run FECs, Borman says. For instance, the go-kart operator will be evaluated on coming to work on time, following policies and procedures, adhering to the dress code, having good availability, and showing motivation and enthusiasm. “For managers, it’s all that plus how well they performed against the P&L,” he says. “A lot of their review is tied to the financial aspects as well as the decision-making processes that they have gone through.”

Regardless of the exact position, all reviews should be handled professionally by management, with employees signing off that they played a role in the discussion, Birnbach says. “To protect yourself legally, you have to make sure the performance evaluation is done in an objective, behaviorally focused way,” she adds. “If that review is entirely subjective, you may be leaving your organization legally vulnerable if there is a wrongful termination charge.”

Mike Bederka is a contributing editor for FUNWORLD. He can be reached at mbederka@iaapa.org.