Ah, the dreaded performance review. Even if you are anticipating giving positive feedback, the actual effort it takes to write a well-thought evaluation can seem daunting, time-consuming. The likelihood of procrastination is greater when you know the review will be filled with constructive feedback for improvement on job performance. You will want to be honest, but not harsh, which may make you take a look at your verbiage several times. Your time can be better spent on spreadsheets, creating pie charts, getting a root canal, or really anything other than this. Alas, don’t put it off. Even if you meet with your employees regularly, performance meetings are often regarded by employees differently. This is mostly because annual performance reviews are traditionally tied to merit increases. Employees have more at stake in this meeting than others.
Many employees have to fill out a self-assessment first. If you are in the position of creating or editing performance review templates, periodically evaluate the template itself to make sure the questions are relevant and you are getting the feedback you need to make your department and the company stronger. Be open to receiving, but more importantly, understanding unfavorable employee feedback. When an employee feels they have nothing left to lose, they are likely to be more honest. Sometimes that honesty may reflect how other employees feel, but who are not as confident to put those sentiments in writing. This may be your best chance to get a true pulse on your employees.
Most companies have a hard deadline to complete reviews so budgeting for and allocating of pay raises can be taken into consideration. Even if there isn’t a deadline, create a timely completion date for yourself. No employee should have to wait weeks for the manager to give his or her manager assessment, especially if he or she is already feeling anxious about it. Good or bad, the employee should not be blindsided by your feedback. Do not wait until the performance review to give praise or give feedback in an effort to make the employee progress favorably in his or her position. Every employee should be given the knowledge if expectations are not being met and a reasonable chance to improve. If done correctly, the review can re-affirm the positive and touch on those previously-addressed concerns and the progress of the action steps that were taken to alleviate them. When you give this type of feedback, it shows you are still invested in this employee and his or her success. Go beyond the stock questions and answers to get to the root of the employee’s job performance. Make it a conversation. Do not give general statements. Be prepared to provide solid examples to support your feedback. If your review template utilizes rating scales, and you did not give the employee the highest score, it should be clear to the employee why he or she received the rating they did and what they could do to get to the highest score.
At the end of the conversation, both you and the employee should feel the meeting was productive, strengths were amplified, and goals were set. But seriously, don’t put off that root canal.
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