Annual Reviews

Annual Reviews. Some say they are outdated. Some say they are an important tool. I fall somewhere in between. I believe they can still be a productive tool when used correctly. I visit with most of my leadership team on a daily basis or at least three times each week. We take time to discuss what they are working on each day, each week and what we need to work on for the future.

We still do an annual review in February or March. (I am also reviewed by my City Council and Mayor) I tell all my staff not to get all stressed out or nervous about the review, because if there was something wrong, I would be addressing it with them at the time an issue comes up. I won't wait for an annual review to unload problems on them. I don't believe in blind siding people. Communication builds trust and is the key to every relationship.

I see an annual review as a tool. It forces us to take a deeper dive into our conversations about our goals and objectives. I schedule 90 minutes for each review and I'm willing to take more time, if needed. We have the traditional scoring sheet where I rate an employees performance and the narrative portion of the review where we identify strengths, weaknesses and we set goals.

Each employee does a self evaluation with the same steps to rate performance and identify strengths and weaknesses. Almost every employee is harder on themselves than I am.

This year I had one employee who walked into the room and started the conversation with, "I already know I'm going to disagree with you on several points". We walked through the review without any problems. There were a couple of "issues" that had come up in the past year but we had already discussed them and taken corrective steps. There was no need to rehash old issues that have already been addressed. I told them, we were moving forward. The body language shifted, became more relaxed and we focused on mutual goals for the year and for the future.

My favorite part of the review process is when we get towards the end of the form and we really get into a collaborative conversation. We set short and long term goals. (The short term goals are reviewed in October. They are tied to merit raises) This gives an opportunity to be clear in understanding the goals for each department and the mutual objectives we have for our City.

Then I ask three questions that are most important to me. 1) What tools do you need to be successful in your job? 2) What can I do for you and your staff? 3) What can I do for YOU.

These three questions mean the most to me because I want everyone to have the tools they need to be successful. I want to help our staff and I'm willing to help my employees both professionally and personally.

So, yes, for me an annual review is still an important tool that can be used to take a deeper dive into collaborative conversations to help set professional and personal goals.