Episode 199: What Your People Really Think… About Each Other?

In this week’s episode of The People Strategy Podcast, Traci Austin hosts David Murray, the Co-founder and CEO of Confirm, to talk about improving organizations’ performance management systems. David discusses his tool that measures individual impact, his research on team development and performance, and how identifying personal and professional goals enhances performance reviews.

In this episode…

Performance review metrics are often based on an arbitrary rating system that favors managers’ perceptions. This system focuses on numbers rather than employees’ tangible impacts, so top-performing team members aren’t recognized accordingly. How can leaders maximize employee performance reviews and recognition?

According to performance management optimizer David Murray, 15% of employees contribute to 50% of performance outcomes, while 5% create 50% of organizational challenges. Considering these statistics, David recommends developing a transparent performance management system in which managers set employee expectations about individual performance metrics. To identify high-performers, you can request feedback from each team member about who they go to for advice and who creates the most conflict. This can eliminate manager bias and ensure quiet contributors are recognized appropriately.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[1:57] David Murray shares his research findings on team development and communication

[4:06] Why David developed a tool to measure people’s impact on organizations

[8:35] How to facilitate effective performance reviews

[15:30] Methods to identify impactful employees in an organization

[23:45] Measuring and reducing leadership bias in performance ratings

[29:30] David’s personal and professional goals

Quotable Moments:

“It’s super common for people to hold a process for performance reviews, but often folks are not rightly recognized by that process.”
“About 60% of ratings reflect more about the manager as a rater than the person being rated.”
“The standard HR processes don’t talk a lot about power laws, which show a small percentage of your talent producing a large amount of the impact.”
“Asking about how people perceive those around them in the workplace can mitigate bias and spotlight silent yet high-impact performers.”
“If we don’t measure bias, how are we expected to improve it? It’s essential to capture these perceptions to instigate productive conversations.”

If we don't measure bias, how are we expected to improve it? Share on X

Action Steps:

Facilitate open dialogue within your team: Encouraging honest discussions about perceptions of colleagues can reveal unrecognized talent and areas of improvement.
Regularly measure and review biases: By identifying inherent biases within performance evaluations, organizations can work toward more fair and accurate assessments.
Implement organizational network analyses: This approach can help recognize employee impact, particularly the vital contributions of quieter, less visible staff.
Calibrate performance ratings across the organization: Standardizing the assessment criteria ensures fairness and clarity in employee performance appraisals and compensation.
Look beyond traditional evaluation methods: Being open to new performance management techniques can lead to a more motivated, aligned, and productive workforce.

About David Murray

David Murray is the Co-founder and CEO of Confirm, a performance management system that enables CEOs to increase capital efficiency. As a product designer, he began his career as a Product Manager at Google, where he received the Google Founders Award and EMG Award for his work on Gmail.

Sponsor for this episode…

The Leadership Development Program isn’t just about theory — it’s about tangible results.

Imagine understanding how you tick and its impact on how you lead. In our last cohort, participants realized they were leading others the way they needed to be led instead of how their team members needed to be led. This increased understanding and trust within the team resulted in a better work product.

The leadership program offers tailored training covering topics like employee engagement and accountability. Through this course, you will learn and practice ways to build trust with your team and organizational leaders.

Achieving personal and professional goals yields positive results! This program is your opportunity for new leadership to learn and practice the style of leadership that drives organizational success.

Learn more and sign up today!