A Guide to Performance Calibration

To drive high performance in your organization, I believe it’s essential to promote the right behaviors through meritocracy, which shows every time people are hired, promoted, or let go. I enjoy hiring and promoting, but I’ve also lost sleep over having to let team members go.

One of my favorite approaches to building high-performing teams while genuinely caring about the people involved is running quarterly performance calibration sessions with leaders. Here’s a summary of how I conduct these sessions.

 

How to Run a Performance Calibration Session

1. Book a 2-3 hour meeting with your leadership team at the beginning of each quarter.
2. Before the meeting, share a unified spreadsheet with each team member’s name, job title, and seniority level.
3. Leaders assign a rating (1 to 4) for each direct report, reflecting the person’s performance in the last quarter, along with a brief justification.
   • 4: Above Expectations – “Excellent job + extra mile” (~5-15%)
   • 3: Meets Expectations – “Great job” (~50-60%)
   • 2: Partially Meets Expectations – “Good job, but clear room for improvement” (~20-30%)
   • 1: Below Expectations – “Not good enough, change is needed” (~5-10%)

Ground Rules for the Calibration Session

• Confidentiality: Topics and feedback discussed must stay within the meeting.
• Collaboration, not competition: Support each other in identifying blind spots and biases.
• Leader ownership: Leaders own the ratings and the feedback, and drive the individual conversations consistently with the calibration results.

How to Conduct the Meeting

1. Review the “4s” first:
   Leaders present their justifications, providing examples of results and behaviors. Others may challenge the justification.
   Key questions:
   • What went beyond expectations, and how did it impact the team?
   • If other team members saw this rating, would anyone be surprised?
2. Next, review the “1s”:
   Leaders present their justifications for each “1” rating, with further challenges and evidence.
   Key questions:
   • Would this person be surprised by this feedback? What can they do to improve?
   • Would you hire this person again based on what you know now?
3. Review the “2s”:
   Follow the same approach as with the “1s” to assess if any should actually be rated as “1.”
   Key question:
   • What specific improvements are needed for this person to reach a “3”?
4. Review the “3s”:
   Display the list and let leaders question if any ratings seem inconsistent.
   Key questions:
   • What would this person need to do to become a “4”?
   • i.e.: This person was rated “2” last quarter—what was the improvement about?
5. Check the overall distribution:
   Ensure ratings are well-balanced. If too many people are rated “4,” the bar may be too low.
6. Discuss key decisions:
   Go over cases regarding promotions, rotations, or exits.
   Key question:
   • Is someone rated “4” being challenged enough? Is someone rated “1” likely to improve next quarter?

By following this simplified process, you can create a balanced and productive performance review system that promotes high performance while caring for your team’s development.