Performance reviews can be a useful tool in motivating employees, improving engagement and driving better performance – when utilised effectively. When not carried out well, they can have the opposite effect, demotivating employees and even contributing to disengagement and worsening performance!
For many employees, performance reviews can be anxiety inducing as their work comes under scrutiny, while managers can treat the review process as a time waster, or a mere tick and flick exercise. So how can the review process deliver more value to the business and avoid de-valuing employee efforts and management time?
Here we’ve compiled our top 10 tips for effective performance reviews
1. Treat the review process as a 2-way conversation
Performance reviews should be looked at as a 2-way conversation between an employee and manager and cover areas specific to their role, the impact of their role and performance within the larger context of the organisation, and focus on areas for development. The process is an opportunity to formally acknowledge key achievements, review progress towards goals and set targets for continued improvement.
2. Link it back to the bigger picture
These review conversations, while focussed on the individual’s performance and specific role, will be most effective if they refer back to the greater business objectives. Whether its packing warehouse shelves correctly, or closing international sales deals, every role has a part to play in the success of the business, and conveying this can lead to greater engagement as the individual sees the value of their efforts.
3. Remember, feedback is the breakfast of champions
Don’t wait for the annual review to offer feedback. Especially where the feedback is performance related, its important to address it right away. Employees thrive on feedback when delivered appropriately and regular feedback helps to reinforce expectations and understanding of key role requirements.
4. Make sure role expectations are clear
A clear position description, including KPIs where relevant, will help employees understand the purpose of their role, and provide the essential criteria which the individual’s performance can be measured against. Referring back to the position description during reviews can be helpful in maintaining an objective discussion and is an efficient method of also reviewing the position description and updating if required.
5. Plan for an effective review process
Review your performance review process. The most effective review process involves the employee completing a self-assessment and providing feedback usually on a structured review form. This is submitted ahead of the scheduled meeting, allowing for the manager to consider responses and add their own observations and data. Is your review form working for these meetings? Are feedback areas, questions or ratings relevant to the role? Could the form be more concise or the frequency of the review process increased from annual to 6 monthly reviews?
6. Prepare
Prepare ahead of time with well-structured forms and clear communication around the purpose of the performance review process. When employees are given plenty of notice and time to prepare for the meeting, there is a greater opportunity for clear, collaborative and construction discussion in the review. Managers should have time to review employee responses, together with any other data or feedback available and be prepared with notes to guide the conversation. There should be no surprises in the performance review.
7. Discover what motivates your employees
Use reviews as an opportunity to discover what motivates your employees. Ask them what they see as their greatest accomplishments and what their own personal career goals are. Where possible, find alignment between business goals and individual goals and determine pathways for progression. Everyone has unique drivers, and understanding what motivates individuals and identifying trends or consistent themes within teams will allow you to improve communication and increase productivity while also informing your retention strategies.
8. Balance the past and future focus
The review process naturally considers data and feedback collected from the employees past performance and subsequent outcomes, however the real benefit of the review process is in uncovering the learnings from these. Then, together with the employee, translating these lessons learnt into strategies for developing skills, or increasing productivity or improving certain areas of performance. By rounding out the review with clear targets and a workable plan, both the employee and manager are in a position to positively contribute to achieving performance improvements and business targets.
9. Keep reviews objective
It’s important that managers remove their personal opinions and feelings from the review process. From referring to the position description, to compiling data relevant to the role, collecting feedback from colleagues or clients or notes taken during the review period, the performance review discussion will be more beneficial for both parties when feedback refers to tangible data and not only personal observations or assumptions.
10. Make reviews a regular occurence
Although the performance review process is traditionally an annual one, when carried out more frequently, the process is more effective, and allows for a more productive dialogue and dynamic development of the individual and their role in the organisation. Even where there aren’t sufficient resources, or perhaps not enough reason to warrant reviews more than once annually, its helpful to pair the annual review with regular scheduled follow up discussions to track progress against set objectives. If the annual review process is held at the same time each year for all employees, this can be quite a drain on resources in any business. If this is hindering the process for your business, consider staggering the review meetings throughout the year or simplifying the performance review so this is less time intensive for managers.
In summary, keeping the performance review process clear, simple and relevant to the role as well as the broader business objectives is key to ensuring both employees and the business benefit from the process. Maintaining a consistent, and regular review process, whether than be annual, quarterly or monthly is also important as it allows for frequent realignment of expectations and objectives.
Are you getting the most out of your performance review process? If you need help reviewing or implementing a new performance review process, get in touch with our team today.