Hi Reader,

Hot on the heels of our Rethinking the Review event, we’re doubling down with even more advice on how to do performance reviews better.

Why? Because they are massively important. Not only because—when done right—they can improve financial outcomes for the business, but because—for better or worse—many companies tie compensation and promotion decisions directly to performance reviews. As a manager, what you write in performance reviews can have a significant impact on your report’s finances and career trajectory, so it’s critical you educate yourself on best practices.

So, let’s get to it, shall we?

Each week, we share an applied tip or did-you-know to help you build knowledge and hone essential skills that help you kick butt at work and in life.

Banish Bias, Boost Performance

If you’re a long-time reader of The Murmuration, you’ll know that we talk about biases a lot. That’s because they are sneaky little suckers that can show up unannounced and wreak havoc in our lives.

One great way to do right by your reports is to learn how to spot and counteract both cognitive and implicit biases in performance reviews.

Let’s talk about how.

Cognitive Biases in Reviews

Our brains naturally seek shortcuts, but these shortcuts can sometimes lead us astray through cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are the ways that our brain takes a left turn from solid reasoning and judgment (often without us even being aware of it).

Here are a few examples of how these biases can affect your reviews:

• Recency and primacy biases. We have a tendency to remember recent events and first impressions. But if that’s our focus in a review, we fail to comprehensively evaluate performance across the entire period. Remember to form opinions based on a range of data points and not just the most memorable.
• Halo and horns biases. Sometimes we let one good or bad thing color everything. But being strong or weak in one particular area doesn’t make a person strong or weak in all areas. Remember to evaluate different aspects of performance independently instead of as one big blob.
• Similar-to-me and idiosyncratic biases. Research has shown that up to 62% of our judgments are more about us than the person we’re rating. For example, we tend to view people who are similar to us favorably. Also, if we are great at a particular skill, we tend to rate others disproportionately lower. Conversely, if we’re bad at something, we tend to rate others more highly. Remember to take yourself out of the equation.

Many more cognitive biases can impact your reviews in different ways. The big takeaway is that we can automatically and unknowingly make faulty judgments about people’s performance based on incomplete information or a skewed perspective. So, remember to challenge your thoughts! Ask yourself: “Is this objectively true?” and “Do I have multiple pieces of evidence collected over time to support this?” This awareness is key to fair and accurate reviews.

Unconscious Bias in Reviews

Our brains also build stereotypes about groups of people in the form of unconscious or implicit biases. These biases are thoughts and attitudes that influence our understanding, actions, and behaviors without us being aware of them.

Here’s how they can hurt reviews:

• Gender bias. Women tend to get more feedback related to personality and attitude (e.g., being “compassionate” and “collaborative”), whereas men get feedback on achievement and accomplishments. Reviews for women tend to be shorter, on average, and women often need to provide more evidence to be perceived as competent.
• Racial bias. People of color also need to prove themselves more. Not only that, but their mistakes can be magnified, and they are held to a more limited standard of “acceptable” behavior. In some organizations, people of color are disproportionately likely to receive low ratings. At the same time, they get lower-quality feedback. For example, Black men get less feedback, and Black women tend to receive much less actionable advice.

If your head is spinning, it should be—this is not OK. So here’s how we can counteract it:

• Structure reviews. The open response text box is not your friend. Putting more parameters around how to fill that text box can help reduce bias. Use rubrics to focus your evaluation on specific competencies. Require three pieces of supporting evidence for each judgment and set a minimum and maximum word count. Even if your company’s review template is broad, create constraints within that structure for yourself and your managers.
• Review language for bias. Use a tool like Textio to help spot biased language. Or…ask your pal Gemini or ChatGPT! Try the following prompt, including your review:

• Calibrate as a team. Even if HR doesn’t require it, gather your team or work across peers to norm on numerical ratings and establish best practices for reviews. Make sure everyone knows how to complete the review and are following the same procedures.
• Pause and reflect. Awareness of bias and how it can impact reviews is a great first step. Know, also, that we are more susceptible to bias when rushed or tired. Take a beat before hitting submit. Review your reviews with fresh eyes and with a deliberate focus on bias.

By recognizing and counteracting bias, you can create performance reviews that are fair, accurate, and empower your team members to thrive. And for that, Starling, we salute you!

Each week, we touch on an aspect of happiness and health at work, how to build it, and how to drive positive change in the workplace.

Breathe Easy

The other day, as I was doom scrolling TikTok, I saw Tim Ferriss talking about 4-7-8 breathing and thought to myself, “How many different breathing exercises does the world need??” After I got over my snark, I decided to investigate these breathing techniques to better understand how they compare and what exactly they do for you. For better or worse, I’m now sharing that information with you.

Techniques

Deep breathing techniques have been around for centuries, but modern science is catching up, too. These simple exercises can do wonders for your physical and mental well-being, helping you manage stress, boost your mood, and even improve your overall health. You’ve got options:

See the resources below to learn more about each.

Commonalities

There are a few commonalities across techniques that are the key to their benefits. At their core, they are all forms of deliberate regulation that help manage the body’s stress responses. If you find yourself unable to remember Buteyko or Simhasana or whether it’s 4-7-8 or 3-6-9, just remember these key features:

Got it? So next time you are feeling stressed: take a moment, pay attention to the breath, breathe in deeply through the nose, hold your breath for a moment, breathe out for longer than you inhale, and repeat.

And call it whatever the heck you want.

Resources

For more information on the techniques mentioned above, check out these helpful resources:

• ​Box Breathing​
• ​4-7-8 Breathing​
• ​Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana)​
• ​Lion’s Breath (Simhasana)​
• ​Resonant Breathing​
• ​Buteyko Breathing​
• ​The Wim Hof Method​

Each week, we collect a few great reads from a variety of disciplines to help you forge new connections and gain fresh perspectives.

• ​How to Get your Team to Actually Speak Up (HBR). How to address the underlying reasons for employee reticence, including the individual and systemic barriers to speaking up
• ​Let’s Talk About the Real Reason for All These Tech Layoffs (Inc.). Honestly, I just really enjoyed this guy’s irreverent tone.
• ​The Internet Might Be Good for Us (Nautilus). One study suggests that, on a global scale, it’s associated with greater happiness.
• ​Why change is hard and how we can trick ourselves into embracing it (Fast Company). By understanding how our brains naturally react to change we can make adapting to change a little easier.
• ​Five Secrets to Positive Leadership (Forbes). How executives can create positive dynamics according to one study of successful South African leadership teams.

Each week, we highlight some of the great things going on across the Starling community. Members can click on any of the links below to explore further.

• On Tuesday, Melissa, Jennifer, Emily, Christine, and Jeff discussed the trend of "quiet vacationing" from last week's newsletter. The group agreed that leaders need to model the right behavior for the team and call out others who set a strong example!
• Join us for our Community Coffee Chat next Tuesday, June 18 at 12:00 PM ET.
• The June monthly leaderboard is heating up, with some new community members setting the pace for the first part of the month. Will we see a runaway victory like last month, or will the competition be stiffer?

Given that you made it this far, we felt you ought to be rewarded with one of Jeff’s Famous Dad Jokes:

Rachel & The Starling Team