The Not So Surprising Truth About Performance Reviews
It’s the end of the year, which means it’s performance review time. The performance review is supposed to be a great way for managers and employees to talk about successes, needs for improvement, and way to grow and motivate the employee to succeed. Sad thing is… this doesn’t happen like it should. A large percent of employees view performance reviews as stressful, awkward, and a huge waste of time.
Why do most employees feel this way? A few reasons:
- Waiting for once or twice a year for feedback is too long. People shouldn’t have to wait half a year to realize their successes and/or failures. If there is an area someone needs to improve on… WHY WAIT? They need to know so they can do a better job, as well as grow as a professional. The same goes for when someone is doing an amazing job… why wait to tell them they are awesome at what they do? Frequent praise and feedback is crucial for employee motivation and success.
- Performance standards are biased. What one manager may see as wildly successful, another could view as average or inadequate. It’s funny, too, because a big handful of bosses aren’t even aware of the killer job their employees are doing… so how can one judge another person on if they are “creative enough” or how good their “organizational skills” are when they don’t even check in with them on a frequent basis? Seriously. Think about it. This leads us back to point number one. There is a huge benefit in frequent communication with employees—getting to know the details of what they are doing, how they work, their process, their goals, etc. Doing THIS can lead to a performance review that is actually beneficial, accurate, and can help the employee GROW.
- The dreaded PR is linked to compensation. Obviously. This is great when a feedback session helps the person become better and moves them closer to their goals! But a review that is chocked full of criticism (constructive, yet still criticism) and more “needs to improve” feedback than praise only fills the person with fear, disappointment, and lack of motivation. We all know a review has an affect on an employees take home pay, that’s why it’s so important for managers to refer back to point number one, so that a biased point number two, doesn’t happen, so that point number 3 can be the awarded appropriately.
As you waltz into the loving arms of performance review season, keep these points in mind so that way both sides of the table leave feeling happy and confident!
Check out the infographic below to see how employees really feel about PRs:
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