How to give better employee performance reviews?
Introduction
One of the best efforts made by the experts from the corporate world to make performance reviews fair and transparent was developing the rating scale system.?
It includes a five-point scale:?
You define the goals and performance metrics for an employee, and based on the performance, you assign a score to every individual.?
Initially, things were fine. But things got messy when everything was in the hands of one person (your manager or boss which you might not like) and you met that person once at the end of the year.?
The results were that just one in five employees agreed that their company’s performance practices were fair.?
So, how to give better employee performance reviews? What is this 360-degree feedback? What is the right frequency for performance reviews? Why have the companies stopped annual reviews?
In this post, you will find answers to all of these queries.?????????????
5 ways to give better employee performance reviews???
Modern-day performance reviews have evolved a lot from legacy performance management systems. Have a look at the five ways that help you give better employee performance reviews.
1. Ditch the annual reviews and embrace continuous ongoing feedback???
Almost every organization has ditched the annual performance reviews. It is because the most common complaint HR managers receive from employees is that if they were aware of the shortcomings, they would have improved them. Thus, most companies have shifted to monthly or quarterly performance reviews so that employees get to know early on what they need to work on.?
A manager sits with the candidate to discuss what is working well and the areas that need improvement. This provides employees an opportunity to improve. The appraisal might occur once or twice a year, but performance reviews happen continuously throughout the year.???
2. 360-degree feedback is the key
Some employees complained their managers shared poor performance feedback due to a lack of information on the performance of each individual’s work or biases. Thus, they did not agree with the performance review by their managers.?
To counter this, experts have created a 360-degree feedback model where employees receive anonymous feedback from managers, peers, and even customers. This provides a more well-rounded view of performance.??????
3. Clearly define the employee’s goals, performance metrics, and business goals????
Many employees complain that they do not even know what is expected of them and they do not have clarity on the measures of performance review. Thus, they are not able to perform up to the expectations of the employer. Thus, you need to clearly define the goals for the employees, performance metrics, and how their goals align with the business objectives.??
The key here is to use quantitative measures to give employees a clear idea of what they need to work on. For example, the metrics to measure performance for sales roles will be revenue generated, leads/calls made, and sales figures.?
You need to define the performance metrics for each role, set an individual’s goals, and align them to the business objectives.??
4. Use performance management software??
Performance management is not a small task that you can do causally. Compensation, promotion, and other decisions depend on it. Therefore, you need strong performance management software that helps you set performance goals, track and record individual performance, and make performance review decisions transparently based on the data. Choose the performance management tools wisely as per your business needs.?
5. Involve your employees in goal setting?
30% of the employees say when their managers involve them in goal-setting, they are 3.6x more likely than others to be engaged in achieving goals. And 21% of employees say that their performance metrics are in their control.??????
The purpose of performance management is to improve the quality of work. Thus, it is important to involve your employees in goal setting so that they are involved in achieving goals.?
Last but not least, invest in employee development and upskilling so that they can perform better.?
I hope using these tips you can ensure the performance reviews of employees of your organization are fair, transparent, and as per the policies.??
Want to learn more about performance management tips for a manager?
Check out my in-depth article: Performance review tips for managers (with 100% success rate)??