Contribution Assessments: A Simple Best Practice Guide

A Contribution Assessment is the business's review of a team member's contribution. It is the partner process to a Career Valuation Assessment, where the team member reviews how well the business is contributing to their career, development, and sense of value.

Done well, a Contribution Assessment creates trust, clarity, psychological safety, and accountability. It helps a team member understand what is working, what needs attention, and how the business will support them to be great.

This should be a conversation from Team Leader to Team Member, not a distant HR process.

The Purpose

The purpose of a Contribution Assessment is to fairly assess two things:

1. Role Contribution

How well is the team member delivering the roles they hold and the accountabilities they are responsible for?

2. Values Contribution

How well is the team member living the values of the business?

This reflects the ADAPT and Succession Thinking emphasis on role clarity, healthy culture, trust, and building a business where accountability can be handed over clearly and safely.

Assessing Role Contribution

Start with the roles the person holds.

For each role, review the core accountabilities and ask: How are you delivering on this role?

Use simple language:

The goal is not to catch people out. The goal is to create clarity.

For each area that is not yet great, ask:

• How can we, as the business, help you turn this to great?
• What timeframe is reasonable?
• What support, training, mentoring, clarity, or resources do you need?
• What will you commit to doing?

Contribution must be fair to both parties. The business has a responsibility to provide clarity and support. The team member has a responsibility to act, improve, and deliver.

Assessing Values Contribution

Next, review the values of the business. Ask: How well are you living the values of the business?

Again, keep the assessment simple:

Values feedback should always be based on specific behaviours, not personality judgements.

For example, avoid:

"You are not a team player."

Say:

"In the last two project meetings, you dismissed input from others before they had finished speaking. That does not reflect our value of respect."

A healthy culture depends on values being lived, not just written down. ADAPT's view is that culture is shaped by the shared values, assumptions, and behaviours that determine how people act day to day.

The Conversation Standard

Every Contribution Assessment should follow these principles:

1. Be clear. People should know what role they hold, what accountabilities they own, and what good looks like.
2. Be fair. Do not surprise people with feedback that should have been given earlier.
3. Be specific. Use examples, not vague impressions.
4. Be supportive. Give people every reasonable opportunity to be great.
5. Be accountable. Support does not replace accountability. If something needs to improve, name it clearly.
6. Be two-way. Ask what the business can do better to help the person succeed.

Simple Structure for the Meeting

1. Set the tone

"This conversation is about helping you be great in your role and aligned with our values. We will be clear, fair and constructive."

2. Review role accountabilities

For each role:

• What is working well?
• What needs improvement?
• What support is needed?
• What timeframe is reasonable?
• What is the agreed action?

3. Review values alignment

For each value:

• Where is the person living this well?
• Are there any examples of misalignment?
• What behaviour needs to continue, change, or stop?

4. Agree the plan

Document:

• Strengths to keep building on
• Improvement areas
• Support from the business
• Commitments from the team member
• Review timeframe

5. Close with clarity

End with:

• "What are we both clear on?"
• "What support do you need from me?"
• "What will you own between now and the next check-in?"

Best Practice Recommendations

• Do not make this an annual-only event. A formal Contribution Assessment may happen once or twice a year, but feedback should be regular.
• Keep the focus on roles and values. Avoid drifting into vague opinions about the person.
• Use the business's Organisation Map, Key Functions, and role accountabilities where available, so the assessment is grounded in agreed accountabilities rather than memory or preference.
• Treat the conversation as part of building a resilient business. When people know what they are accountable for, how they are expected to behave, and how they will be supported, the business becomes clearer, safer, and stronger.

Final Thought

A great Contribution Assessment says:

“We want you to be great here. We will support you to be great. And we will hold you accountable to contribute well to the roles you hold and the values we share.”

Using the Lumia Platform Peer-Catchup Tool

The Lumia platform's peer-catchup tool provides an effective way to record and manage Contribution Assessments. By documenting the assessment conversation within the tool, you ensure that both role contribution and values contribution are captured in a structured format. This creates a clear, accessible record that can be referenced in future check-ins and helps maintain consistency across the team. When using the peer-catchup tool, we recommend including: the assessment rating for each role and value area, specific examples of behaviour or outcomes discussed, any agreed-upon support or resources, and the timeframe for follow-up. This keeps the assessment process transparent and ensures accountability for both the business and the team member.