On paper, a performance review seems pretty straightforward. It is an annual or bi-annual meeting where an employee meets with their supervisor to discuss their performance from the previous year or 6 months. These reviews are used to gauge progress, measure personal growth, consider promotions, and provide feedback on what the employee can improve upon in the coming year. When done correctly, they can be incredibly useful tools in growing your organization.
The issue lies in the way we approach performance reviews. Oftentimes, a new employee will be promised an annual review or even one sooner than that to decide if they deserve a pay raise or title bump. Then, the real world of running a company gets in the way and these useful tools get cast aside. This aggravates your people because they count on these reviews to measure progress and earn an increase in both compensation and responsibility.
Not sticking to a set timeline forces employees to request their own performance reviews. This can make someone uneasy and feel like they are being annoying. When performance reviews are conducted they often lack structure and direction. Worst of all, most of them end without clear goals and objectives to measure for their next review. If you are ready to get serious about regular performance reviews, or want to add more impact to the ones you are already conducting, these tips should point you in the right direction.
Stick To A Schedule
The most important thing that needs to take place in order for people to take performance reviews seriously is to stick to a set schedule. If you promise a new hire that reviews will take place yearly, you have to mean it. The review must take place one week before or after their work anniversary. If you promise the company that everyone will get reviewed at the same time, you have to confirm that you have the bandwidth to do this.
In order to sign new hire’s to a lower pay rate, hiring managers may offer to review their situation after the first three or six months. This means conducting a performance review. It also means outlining what you need to see from that employee to earn the pay raise that they seek. They will be counting on this meeting and it will motivate them to hit their goals. If you do not deliver or blow it off because you are too busy, the employee will not feel appreciated and morale will begin to suffer.
Conduct With Direct Supervisor
Performance reviews must be conducted between direct reports. You may have a VP of marketing that oversees a team of ten associates. This does not mean he or she should conduct everyone’s performance review. Their managers should conduct reviews with the people who report directly to them. Only they truly know how to grade and rate their performance and provide valuable and actionable feedback.
For example, an associate will have several tasks they complete on a daily or weekly basis. Those deliverables are reviewed by a manager. That manager can determine if the quality of work is improving, decreasing, or staying the same. They can also comment on how well their report takes direction, communicates, and performs in important situations. Those are the metrics that your team should be graded on.
Set Goals And Benchmarks
Performance reviews are not just about reviewing the work that has been done in the past. They are also about looking to the future and making the next 6-12 months as positive and progressive as possible. Before a review meeting, a manager should list out 3-5 goals they want their report to work towards. These should align with the department’s overall goals and what they need out of that person’s position to achieve them.
A year is a long time in between reviews, and it’s easy to lose sight of the goals you set yourself. Therefore, we advise setting up benchmark meetings every three months. These can be used to review their goals and ensure they are on the right track. These meetings can be used to adjust goals to match new or changing department directives. If you know you are going to meet every three months, you can break those big goals down into smaller goals to measure progress and provide positive reinforcement.
Be Honest and Transparent
Performance reviews only work if you are honest and transparent. If an employee has a serious issue they need to address, don’t sugarcoat it. Explain what the problem is and provide solutions on how they can fix it. If someone did not hit their goals, take the time to understand what happens. If this means they do not get a bonus, then make that clear. If you start giving out bonuses to people who don’t hit their targets, then people will lose the motivation to try in the first place.
When it comes to not giving out raises and promotions, it’s also important to explain why that is. This is especially true if the reasoning has to do with company finances. You do not have to provide all the details, but an employee has a right to know if an outside factor is preventing them from getting something they earned. If you are not transparent about the reasoning, your people will get frustrated at the lack of transparency and may look for a new position.
Conclusion
Performance reviews are important and must be taken seriously. As a leader, it is your job to sit down with your managers and create a strong process for reviews to be done in a timely and efficient manner. Your whole organisation should feel confident they know what they are working towards and when and how they will be rewarded. This will result in low turnover, high employee morale and ultimately increased profits.
Let’s Talk
The RGLP Group is a leader in providing executive and employee training courses. We are dedicated to working with your entire organization and ensuring everyone to handle what lies ahead for your organization.
To learn more, please contact us at contact@therglpgroup.com.
