While some are more formal than others, performance reviews give bosses and managers an opportunity to detail both the good and bad aspects of each employee. From the work they produce to the attitude they display, all parts of an employee's performance are under review.
The goal of a performance evaluation is to give workers feedback on what they are doing right and what needs to be improved. While regular dialogue with employees is important for managers in order to ensure their employees are staying on task, formal reviews can come with much greater consequences. Good reviews can help determine which employees deserve raises or promotions, while a poor one can give an employer the proof they need to demote or in some cases terminate a staff member.
In addition to judging an employee's past performance, reviews also provide an excellent time for both the employee and employer to look forward. Evaluations should include goals for the future. By setting goals in a formal manner, employees will better understand the objectives that need to be met in order to achieve positive reviews moving forward.
Writing a performance review
While managers might not enjoy spending time writing their employee evaluations, they do see the benefits that come from them. A recent study by the staffing firm Accountemps revealed that more than 90 percent of executives feel their performance reviews are effective."The success or failure of an appraisal depends on how clearly both performance expectations and feedback are communicated to employees," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps.
When writing a performance review, bosses should avoid criticizing an employee in general and should not sugarcoat any problems, but also not focus solely on negative aspects of a staff member's performance.
Those conducting performance reviews should instead look at the following steps provided by Accountemps as an example of how to conduct effective employee performance reviews:
- Provide constructive feedback on specific performance issues so staff members know exactly what they need to improve on.
- Be upfront about areas that need improvement.
- When discussing the review, managers should engage their employees. It should be a two-way conversation.
- Employees should be required to conduct their own self-assessment as a way to judge how well they think they are performing.
- Bosses should also be telling staff members what they are doing well as a way to recognize accomplishments and reinforce positive performance.
- Bosses should ask for feedback from other colleagues for a more well-rounded review.
- Quality and quantity of work: accuracy, thoroughness, productivity and goal attainment
- Communication and interpersonal skills: teamwork, cooperation, listening, persuasion and empathy
- Planning, administration and organization: goal setting, prioritizing and profit orientation
- Leadership: accessibility, responsiveness, decisiveness, collaboration and delegating
- Job knowledge and expertise: knowledge base, training, mentoring, modeling and researching
- Attitude: dedication, loyalty, reliability, flexibility, initiative, energy and volunteering
- Ethics: diversity, sustainability, honesty, integrity, fairness and professionalism
- Creative thinking: innovation, receptiveness, problem solving and originality
- Self-development and growth: learning, education, advancement, skill building and career planning
Performance Improvement Plan
Employees whose performance is deemed subpar during an evaluation are often subjected to a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), which is designed to boost an employee's performance by setting clear expectations and goals for the future. It gives an employee the opportunity to improve performance before more drastic steps, such as being fired, are taken.According to the University of Texas at Dallas, an effective Performance Improvement Plan will:
- Specifically identify the performance to be improved or the behavior to be corrected.
- Provide clear expectations and metrics about the work to be performed or behavior that must change.
- Identify the support and resources available to help the employee make the required improvements.
- Establish a plan for reviewing the employee's progress and providing feedback to the employee for the duration of the Performance Improvement Plan.
- Specify possible consequences if performance standards as identified in the plan are not met.
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