Performance reviews.  Ugh! Employees dread them and you likely dislike doing them.  They can make people feel unsettled or even a bit squeamish.  This is likely because they are not typically done the right way.  Sure most companies provide score based forms to fill out in order to ‘rank’ your employees from best to worst.  They may even dictate what percentage of you staff you are allowed to give an excellent rating to…or how many must receive a low score.  This method is easy for the company to implement and ensures standardization throughout the organization.  The problem with this type of system is that it doesn’t guide the manager and the employee through a meaningful discussion.  In addition many leaders fall into the trap of manager biases by unconsciously showing favoritism toward staff members they personally like best giving them a higher grade than they may merit while rating others they don’t click with as well due to personality or other non-job related issues lower scores than deserved. 

When they are done well  an employee evaluation is an opportunity for manager and employee to revisit expectations, discuss organizational priorities, talk about job performance and have a planning session to set goals for the employee to help them move forward in their career.  If there are any performance issues with a particular employee this matter should be addressed when it occurs, not saved up for appraisal time.  There should be no big surprises during the review; this should eliminate much of the anxiety associated with the process.

If given enough leniencies, some managers skip the review process all together, justifying it as unnecessary because they ‘give their employees feedback all the time’. This simply isn’t good enough.  Chances are some staff members get a lot of feedback (positive or negative) while others receive little to none. 

There is much to be gained by conducting regular performance evaluations:

• Your employees will know what is expected of them.  Through receiving feedback from you they will know where they are doing a good job as well as areas could improve or develop new skills. (Thereby helping the company grow)
• You can recognize and reward good employees and coach those who are having trouble.
• The one on one discussion you will have in this meeting will make sure you are meeting the needs and concerns of your staff.
• Employees are often perform better when they understand what is expected from them, how they fit in with the company and how they can best achieve their goals.
• It allows employees to see that their manager cares about their career growth.

In order for you to give effective reviews you will need to have the following in place:

• Performance standards describe what you want workers in a particular job to accomplish and how you want it done. They should be the standard across the board for every employee who holds this position.  A copy of these performance standards should be kept in the employee file and the employee should receive a copy at their initial training or any time job criteria is modified.
• Goals that are individualized to each employee tailored to their unique strengths and weaknesses. You may work with employees to help them set these objectives and help them work towards career goals.

Track an employee’s performance throughout the year. Keep a log for each worker noting memorable incidents both good and bad for instance, attendance, working over-time to help the company out, participating in a community event on behalf of the company. If an employee does something really wonderful or totally screws something up acknowledge it right away and make a note in their log.

At least once a year meet with every employee for a performance review. Prepare the review by viewing their employee log and personnel file.  The meeting should cover revisiting the performance standard for the job, how the employee is doing meeting those objectives. Some employees may get defensive so be prepared to back up your opinion with facts. Here are some tips to help you conduct positive, constructive appraisals.

Evaluate performance not personality. Stick to how well the worker does their job not their character traits.

Be specific. Instead of saying an employee is angry and emotional focus on workplace behavior saying twice in the last two months the employee has screamed at and belittled fellow employees. This behavior must stop.

Set specific and realistic goals. Don’t say ‘we need to increase productivity’ instead focus on numbers ‘We need to produce 10% more in sales this year over last.’  If you set unrealistic goals people will feel dispirited and see no point in working so hard toward something that is impossible to accomplish, on the other hand don’t squash an employee’s ambitions by not giving them something to stretch themselves for.

Let them talk. Employees will feel evaluations are more fair if they are given the opportunity to express themselves. Ask what they like about their jobs, what their concerns are, where they would like to see their role in in the company and how you can help them reach the goals you’ve laid out during the review.