Motivational interviewing turns a performance review into a two-way conversation. Ask for the employee's view first, state your assessment once and plainly, reflect how they react, and then draw out the goals they care about for the next year. The rating stays yours to own. How they grow from here is theirs to work out with you.
What a review asks of you
A performance review has two jobs that pull against each other. You owe the employee an honest assessment, and you need them to leave the room invested in the next year. Most managers handle the tension by softening the assessment until it means nothing, or by delivering it so fast that the employee spends the rest of the meeting defending themselves.
MI gives you a third option. You separate the parts that are settled (the rating and the documented facts) from the parts that are open (what they make of it, what they want to work on, how they'll get there). You state the settled parts clearly. You spend most of the meeting on the open parts, where the employee's own reasons do the heavy lifting.
Before the meeting
Ask for a self-assessment, even a short one. Two questions are enough: what went well, and what they want to work on next. Read it before you finalize your notes. You'll walk in knowing where you agree and where the hard part of the conversation will be.
Then sort your own notes. Write down what is decided and won't change in this meeting. Everything else is open, and you should go in curious about it.
Opening the review
The first minute sets the temperature. Employees often walk in braced for bad news, and a vague opening makes it worse.
So, how bad is it?
Ha, it's not bad! Let's just go through the form and see.
It's a good review overall, with one area I want us to spend real time on. Before I get into mine, I'd like to hear how the year looked to you. Is there anything you want to make sure we cover?
The better version answers the question she asked, names the agenda, and invites hers. Sharing the agenda and leaving room for theirs is a core MI skill called focusing.
Ask before you tell
Start with their view. Open questions work best here, because they let the employee pick what matters.
Looking back at the year, what are you proudest of?
Honestly, training the two new techs. I didn't think I'd like it, and I did.
And what would you do differently if you had the year again?
Probably the protocol updates. I let those slide every time we got busy.
She has raised the same concern you planned to raise. When an employee names the problem first, you get to agree with them and build on it, and you can skip the persuading. That happens more often than managers expect, and it only happens if you ask before you tell.
State the rating once
At some point you have to say the hard part. Say it once, in plain words, and stop talking.
So your overall is a 3, which is totally fine, a lot of people get a 3, it's honestly a good number, it's just that with the turnaround times I couldn't quite justify a 4, but it's close.
Your overall rating is a 3, meets expectations. The order turnaround times kept it from a 4. I'd like to hear your reaction.
The long version hides the rating inside reassurance and leaves the employee unsure what you meant. The short version is clear and treats the employee as someone who can handle a direct answer. After you say it, give them time to respond.
Reflect the reaction
Whatever comes next, reflect it before you respond. A reflection shows you heard them and gives them a chance to keep going.
A 3. Wow. I covered for two people who quit this year.
I know, and I did factor that in, but the turnaround numbers are what they are.
You carried a lot this year, and the rating doesn't feel like it counts that.
It doesn't. I mean, I get that the numbers were slow. But I was doing two jobs.
"I get that the numbers were slow" is the opening. The tech is now holding both sides. You can affirm the extra load and stay honest about the standard.
You kept the window open with two people short, and I saw it. The rating reflects the turnaround times. Both of those things are true.
If they disagree with the rating
A disagreement tells you what the employee values. Reflect it, explain once what the rating rests on, and name the path forward if your organization has one. "You see it as a 4. I based it on the turnaround data from March through September. If you want to add context, the form has a section for that, and I'll make sure it goes to HR with the review." Then move on. Arguing the rating for twenty minutes uses up the time you need for next year.
Draw out their goals
Spend the second half of the review on the future. You want goals the employee will work on after the meeting, and people work hardest on goals they named themselves.
If next year went well for you, what would be different?
I'd be the person people come to for the vent stuff. Right now they still go to Lorraine.
You want to be the go-to on ventilators.
Yeah. I think I could get there if I did the advanced cert.
That last line is change talk: the employee's own words in favor of a change. Reflect it and ask for more. To learn how to hear it, see change talk vs sustain talk.
A quick way to test a goal is a 0 to 10 ruler, a standard MI tool.
On a scale of 0 to 10, how confident are you that you can finish the cert this year?
Maybe a 6.
Why a 6 and not a 3?
Asking why the number isn't lower gets them to name their strengths. Asking why it isn't higher tends to produce a list of obstacles. Both are useful later, but start with the first.
Close with a summary
End the review by pulling together what you heard. A good summary includes the hard part and their reasons for change.
So it was a strong year with the new grads. Documentation timeliness is the area that held the rating back, and you'd already noticed it. You want to become the vent resource on the unit and you think the advanced cert gets you there. What's the first step you'd want to take?
Write the goals down in their words. If you rewrite "be the person people come to for vent questions" as "develop subject matter expertise," you've taken the goal back from them.
The limits of MI in a review
Some review conversations need direction more than evocation.
- Policy violations and safety issues. If the review covers a documented incident, describe it, state the expectation, and name the consequence. Don't ask open questions designed to get the employee to discover the rule for themselves.
- Formal improvement plans. A PIP has fixed terms. State them, and use MI's listening skills to keep the meeting respectful. Don't imply that the terms are negotiable.
- Decisions about pay or promotion. If the decision is made, say so. Asking "How do you feel about a raise?" when the number is set is a trap.
Everything outside those limits benefits from asking first and listening longer. For the broader picture of MI as a manager, read motivational interviewing for managers and leaders.
Practicing before review season
Reviews happen once or twice a year, so most managers get little practice at them. Rehearsing the hard moments helps: saying the rating and then staying quiet, or reflecting a disappointed reaction without defending yourself. If the review involves a pattern of missed work, rehearse that conversation too.
Practice this conversation with Josh →
The leaders page shows how short drills fit around a manager's week.
Questions people ask
Can you use motivational interviewing in a performance review?
Yes, for most of it. The rating and the record are yours to own and state plainly. MI shapes the rest: hearing their view first, responding to their reaction, and drawing out goals they care about.
Should the employee talk first in a performance review?
Usually. Asking for their view before you share yours tells you where you agree, where you differ, and what they already know. It also gives them a moment to settle before hearing your assessment.
What do I say if an employee disagrees with their rating?
Reflect the disagreement before you defend the rating. Then explain what the rating is based on, once, and tell them how to appeal it if your process allows that.
Is MI appropriate for a performance improvement plan meeting?
A PIP has fixed terms, so state them plainly and follow your HR process. You can still use reflections and open questions to keep the meeting respectful, as long as you don't imply that the terms are up for discussion.
Reading it is step one.
The skill shows up when you practice it out loud. Try a five-minute drill or a role-play with someone who isn't ready to change yet.
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