Contextualizing Performance: Strategies for Better Reviews

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign them tasks, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Do your employees long to see the goal your company is striving for?

Or, even more importantly, do they know what that goal is?

In performance reviews, it is essential for employers to provide their employees with the necessary context so they can succeed in their roles. By showing employees how their work contributes to the overall success of the company, they are empowered to complete the right tasks in the right way. Their tasks become parts of a larger puzzle, and because they know the big picture (perhaps a large ship), they know exactly what their part needs to look like.

Learn more about IceHrm's performance management software.

Context creates clarity and often leads to an increased sense and deeper meaning of work. Meaningful work, in turn, boosts engagement and satisfaction. And since both meaningfulness and increased engagement improve performance, the importance of context becomes evident.

Context → Clarity → Meaningfulness + Engagement → Improved Performance

Context not only creates better performance (and higher job satisfaction), but also gives employees freedom and allows leaders to focus on their core tasks without constantly having to monitor their staff. For example, the naval architect and the captain do not work alongside the carpenters sealing the hull. Thanks to their clear hierarchy, they can communicate and know what needs to be done and why, allowing everyone to focus on their strengths.

Netflix calls this 'context over control,' and it is a central aspect of their world-renowned corporate culture. Instead of controlling their employees like a strict supervisor, leaders focus on giving their employees the necessary context to achieve the required goals.

They achieve this by avoiding the following:

• Top-down decisions
• Management approvals
• Committees
• Valuing planning and processes over results

And instead, considering the following:

• Strategy  
• Key metrics  
• Goals  
• Clearly defined roles  
• Transparent decision-making  

When Netflix – like any company – makes a mistake, the company shifts the focus back to the context rather than relying on methods that contradict its corporate culture. As they put it: "If one of your talented employees makes a mistake, don't blame them. Instead, ask yourself what context you failed to create." Rather than blaming a carpenter for not gathering enough wood, the architect might emphasize that the ship must be large enough for the crew when they are at sea for months.

Depending on where you are in the process of defining and communicating your company's vision, providing context can help with your performance management efforts. You don't have to turn every employee into a captain like Netflix does, but the more your entire team pulls together and pursues the same goal, the better it is for everyone—whether you're building ships or streaming thousands of series.

Employees need context to perform at their best.

The core principle of driving performance is shifting leadership's focus from micromanaging tasks ("control") to establishing a shared purpose ("context"). This contextual approach fuels employee autonomy, clarity, and engagement, resulting in improved business outcomes. IceHrm's Performance Management software is specifically designed to facilitate this shift by moving beyond outdated annual reviews. It enables HR and managers to implement a system of continuous feedback and goal setting that ensures the company's strategy and key metrics are consistently communicated and tracked alongside individual work. By clearly linking employee objectives (tasks) to organizational goals (the "immensity of the sea"), IceHrm transforms performance management into a powerful tool for strategic alignment, ensuring every employee understands their critical role in the company's success.