Performance reviews are essential to keep your pulse on the momentum of your team. Not only do they help identify what’s working and what needs improving, but they can align your workforce and make sure your whole organization is moving in the same direction.
Employee performance reviews are effective tools for businesses in every sector, but the way you conduct them determines just how effective they are. A well-conducted review can motivate your employees and establish your company as a great employer but a poorly conducted one can discourage and deter your staff.
Unfortunately, managers are sometimes unsure what structured and effective review feedback looks like, and they may get little support from their company when trying to figure it out.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the best tips for how to review employee performance at your company. Let’s get started!
A bad performance review should never be unexpected
Firstly, your employees should never be caught off guard with a performance review. Schedule them far in advance so the person has ample time to prepare and consider what they want to share with you.
Not to mention, the results of the performance review shouldn’t be surprising, either. As a manager or supervisor, you should aim to have a good idea of how everyone is doing week by week and month by month. So, when it comes time for the annual assessment, the meeting is merely one formal aspect of continuous feedback throughout the year. That’s why it’s called a review, after all!
Do not treat a performance review as an opportunity to unload negative sentiment that has built up over the last 12 months. Your employee will feel ambushed, impacting their trust within the organization and likely leading to a loss of top talent over time.
That’s not to say that you can’t have hard things to discuss during a review. However, if you do have real issues with an employee’s work, they should know about it already and expect that those issues will be discussed at length during the assessment.
Be balanced in your annual performance review
Ever heard the “criticism sandwich” strategy? The idea is to deliver bad news in between two pieces of good news. People are generally more receptive to criticism packed nicely with a compliment on either end. While simple, this strategy can help you avoid damaging employee motivation.
Although you don’t have to follow this sandwich strategy to the letter when conducting a performance assessment, do keep it in mind. Even if you have a lot of hard, negative results to work through with your employee, try to approach these points with compassion. It’s not easy to be under the spotlight and have someone point out your flaws, after all. Your employee will greatly appreciate your empathy.
Make a conscious effort to acknowledge and praise all the positive things your employee is doing. That way, it will be easier for them to accept what they need to work on. Even the smallest positive remarks can turn a bad performance review into a much more pleasant experience. Don’t forget that a genuine compliment can go a long way for both the employee and the overall tone and trajectory of the assessment.
Provide clear performance review metrics and objectives
There’s nothing more unproductive than vague feedback like “do better” or “good job” during a performance evaluation. If your employee doesn’t walk away with a crystal clear idea of what they’ve done right and what they need to work on, then the performance review hasn’t done its job.
You need to provide your employees with a map for future success. Maybe your company already has standardized performance metrics. If so, that’s great—use them and have them on hand as a reference when meeting with your employee.
However, many organizations don’t provide these metrics to managers. If your organization doesn’t have well-established performance metrics, you’ll need to create them from scratch. Rest assured, they don’t have to be fancy, but they do need to have your team’s short- and long-term objectives in mind. Remember, success can’t be achieved unless it’s defined first!
Another great advantage to having established metrics is that it makes your performance assessment much less personal in the eyes of your employee. Negative feedback with nothing to back it up may appear as a personal issue against your employee. When you can refer to something concrete, your employee will be able to see exactly how and why they fall short. More importantly, they’ll be able to understand precisely what they need to do to improve.
Document the key points of the performance review (from both sides)
Any effective process needs to be documented, and the same goes for performance evaluations.
You might consider having your employees complete a self-evaluation form. It’s one of the best ways to keep a record of their point of view. After the self-assessment and the review are complete, add your own comments to the form and write notes about what was discussed during the meeting. Then, print off two copies of the entire file—one for you and the other for the employee. Have both parties sign and date it for good measure.
Keeping records in this manner will prove extremely beneficial the following year when you get together for another review. You’ll have a clear benchmark of where the employee was the year before. Not to mention, if you as the manager gets promoted, makes a lateral move or takes a new position elsewhere, the person who replaces you will no doubt appreciate having that documentation.
Be intentional about the setting of the performance review
A performance review is personal to the individual being assessed. Don’t leave your office door open so that other colleagues can overhear your conversation. Treat feedback as a confidential and trustworthy tool between you and your employee.
Put yourself in your employees' shoes and think about how the setting will affect the person in front of you. If possible, try to avoid conducting performance evaluations in cold, sterile boardrooms where the employee will feel like they’re under investigation. Perhaps you could take the meeting out of the office and into a local coffee shop.
If going outside the office is not an option, it might be considerate to at least offer your employee a glass of water or a coffee before you dive into the nitty-gritty details of their performance. Believe it or not, that small gesture can put your employee at ease and set the stage for a relaxed, professional conversation.
Prepare performance-based questions and examples
As with any workplace endeavour, preparation is key. If you turn up to a performance review with nothing more than your own opinions, your feedback won’t be particularly helpful.
Think carefully about what you want to say to your employee. Even better, collect examples of their work to support your comments. This will make your feedback more objective and less personal.
Make sure to also prepare questions for your employee. A performance assessment shouldn’t be one-sided.
Give your employee the space to voice their opinions and perspectives without penalty. As a manager, you’re sure to gain valuable insight into your employee’s needs and how you’re doing at your job. Here are a few example questions to give you an idea of what you could ask:
- Where do you think you need to improve? Why?
- What do you need to be more productive?
- What are your long-term goals within the company?
- Are you taking advantage of the company’s upskilling resources?
Now that you know how to improve your approach to performance reviews, it’s time to put this advice into action. If you’re well prepared, transparent and courteous, performance review season should go off without a hitch! For more expert employer tips from the Adecco Canada team, check out our other blog posts!