How to Revamp Your Employee Performance Review Process

The employee performance review process is not always fun for both you and your employees. While it might never be something people look forward to, there are definitely some things you can do and actions you can take to revamp the process and make it much better for everyone involved.

Often, employees dread it because they feel they are not always rated on objective criteria and will hear too much about the negatives in their performance. We can help you steer away from any biases and leave your employees feeling fairly reviewed. Follow these tips to revamp your employee performance review process.

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Take Notes Throughout the Year

First, you should take notes on each employee’s performance throughout the entire year, not just in the weeks or days leading up to their meeting. This way, you remember everything notable that happened so you do not forget to bring it up. You should write down not just the negatives, but the positives as well. You need to include both to create a good performance review that accurately reflects the employee. Often, the bad sticks in our minds much more than the good, so it is necessary you write and bring up both.

When you only focus on the negative, this will leave the employee feeling very discouraged after their review and they may even consider looking for other work to find somewhere they feel appreciated. Avoid this by really writing everything. Even if you think you will remember something, write it down. Odds are, by the end of the year, you will have forgotten. You should even take note of the small things, such as if they were pleasant and paid attention during meetings, or if the opposite happened. While not as impactful as factors such as performance, it is still beneficial to have this all written down.

Practice Active Listening

An employee performance review is supposed to be a conversation between you and them, not just a lecture from you. You need to actively listen to your employees and not talk over them or leave them no room to get a word in. You should show interest and give the employee your full, undivided attention. This will make them feel more like they can communicate and that they are heard. This is not the time for checking emails or sifting through other paperwork! Remember, an employee evaluation should also delve into their thoughts on the workplace, how you, other coworkers, or the environment itself may be impacting their work and work ethic.

Ask questions as they come up, as well as a set of questions you have for all employees, and listen to the answers. Another technique you can use is mirroring as a clarification. Repeat back to them to ensure you hear and understand them correctly. By using active listening, your employee genuinely feels heard and understood. This causes them to leave the review in better spirits than when they came in. Of course, this ultimately depends on the nature of their own performance.

Ready Yourself for Different Reactions

As someone in a higher position of power than your employees, you need to ready yourself for a multitude of reactions that may occur. Depending on their reaction, you will need to change the way you give your critique. Some may start to cry, some may get extremely defensive, while others may stay silent. By preparing for all of these scenarios and more, in case you feel some employees will act a different way, you will not be thrown as many, or any, curveballs. You will be able to remain professional and tailor feedback to each individual client while hopefully remaining calm throughout the whole review.

Plan Goals Together

Lastly, before the review comes to an end, you can plan the next year together. Instead of telling your employees what they should do or what they should focus on, this should continue as a conversation. Bring up what you have in mind, but collaborate to see what will be most doable. All employees have a different learning curve and rate of success, so this cannot just be a blanket goal for all employees.

If you have a shy employee, instead of stressing that they should make more sales, you can decide together that they will start participating more in meetings. Naturally, this changes depending on the kind of work you do, but the meaning is the same.

By implementing these techniques into your employee performance review process, you will revamp it from something employees dread to an in-depth conversation with their boss that addresses positives, negatives, and any concerns they may have. It will leave them feeling like they actually accomplished something during their own review and that they can look forward to satisfying a goal they genuinely feel like they can do.