Are you interested in tips on how to make a performance review successful in your organization? Although methods and approaches to performance vary from organization to organization, there are universal principles on how to talk to an employee about his or her performance.
Whether it ‘s a performance review , earnings adjustment meetings, or implementing a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) , these tips will help you lead the meeting more confidently.
These tips are applied in everyday conversations with employees. They are also critical in your periodic, formal meetings with employees to discuss work goals and performance. These ten tips will help you make positive and motivational performances. They will improve – not deflate – your ability to interact with employees who report.
Performance review tips
Employees should never hear about positive performance or performance that needs improvement for the first time in your official performance discussion, unless it’s new information or insight. Effective managers discuss both positive performance and areas for improvement on a regular basis, even daily or weekly. The aim is to make the content of the performance review discussion re-highlight critical points.
In the interest of providing regular feedback, a performance review is not an annual event . Quarterly meetings are recommended with employees.
In a medium-sized company, job planning and evaluation occurs twice a year. Career development planning for employees is also scheduled twice a year, so that employees discuss their work and career, formally, four times a year.
Regardless of the components of your performance review process, the first step is to set a goal .
It is essential that the employee knows exactly what is expected of his or her performance. Your periodic performance discussions should focus on these important parts of the employee’s job.
You need to document this work plan : goals and expectations in the work plan or expectations format or in the employer format. Without a written agreement and a common picture of the employee’s goals, the employee’s success is unlikely.
During the preparation and setting of goals, you need to make how you will clearly evaluate the performance of the employee. Describe exactly what you ask of the employee and exactly how you will evaluate the performance. Talk to the employee about her role in the evaluation process. If your organization’s review process involves employee self-assessment , share the form and discuss what self-assessment involves.
Exchange of performance review data
Make sure you share the performance verification format with the employee as well , so that she is not surprised at the end of the review time. A significant component of this evaluation discussion is to share with the employee how your organization will evaluate performance.
The employee should understand that if he does what is expected, he will be considered an employee in doing the job.
In some employee-building organizations, this is equivalent to a third five-point scale. An employee must do more than just be considered an employee.
Avoid horns and halo effects in which everything discussed at the meeting includes positive and negative recent events. Recent events disclose your assessment of employee performance. Instead, you are responsible for documenting positive events such as completed projects and adverse events, such as missed deadlines, throughout the entire period covered by the performance review.
(In some organizations, these are called critical incident reports.) Ask the employee to do this by working together to develop a comprehensive overview of your employee’s work over the time period covered by your discussion.
Receive feedback
Ask for feedback from colleagues who have worked closely with the employee. Sometimes called 360-degree feedback , because you get feedback from an employee from your boss, associate, and any reporting staff, use the feedback to expand the performance information you have provided to the employee.
Start informal discussions to get feedback. Consider developing a format so that feedback can be easily transferred and shared with the manager. If your company uses a form that you fill out in advance at the meeting, notify the employee before the review. This allows the employee to master the content before discussing the details with you. This simple movement can remove a lot of emotion and drama from a performance review meeting.
Preparing for discussion
Prepare for a discussion with the employee. Never enter a performance review without preparation. If you’ve criticized it, the performance review fails. Key opportunities for feedback and improvement are lacking, and the employee will not feel encouraged for their success. The documentation you maintain during the performance review period serves you well as you prepare to review the employee’s work.
If necessary, apply an approach with HR staff, a colleague, or your manager. Iot notes with the main points of feedback. Include bullets that clearly illustrate the point you plan to make an employee. The more you can identify patterns and give examples, the better you will understand and be able to act on the feedback.
Meeting with the employee
When you meet with an employee, check the time for positive aspects of his or her performance. In most cases, the discussion of the positive components of employee performance should take longer than the time of the negative components.
For your above-average employees and your employees, positive feedback and a discussion of how an employee can continue to grow on her performance should include most of the discussion. Employees will find this reward and motivation.
No employee performance is completely negative – if so, why does the employee still work for your organization? But don’t ignore areas that need improvement. Especially for non-employed employees, talk directly and do not follow words. If you are not direct, the employee will not understand the seriousness of the performance condition. Use examples from the entire time period that covers the performance review.
