Performance Reviews for Summer Employees: What to Cover Before They Leave

At the end of the summer, you are likely going to be meeting with your summer employees to give them their performance reviews before they leave. It can be intimidating to know what to say in these reviews, but it is essential that you cover key points. This will help your review be productive and on-topic. Having an idea of what needs to be included in the review meeting can keep you focused so everything is discussed.

Keep it constructive

When you are giving a performance review, keep your feedback constructive. Using negative criticism and harsh words will leave a bad taste in their mouth, which can lead them to tell others not to work for you. Even if there is room for improvement, give them action steps that they can take the next time they work for you or for when they move on to their next job. This helps them grow as an employee and gives them actionable things to do to improve. Be honest, but also be respectful. Put yourself in their shoes- how do you receive feedback?

Future opportunities

If your summer employee was especially great and you have openings beyond the summer, offer the positions to them. They may be a student who is going away, but tell them that they are always welcome back. Even if they have no plans on returning, especially if they are a student employee who is graduating, it will mean a lot to them that you think so highly of them that you are welcoming them back, even with a promotion. Do your best to stay in touch with these employees, as they may aid in future recruitment as well. This way, they have an option in case future plans do not work out how they hoped they would as well.

Allow questions

Throughout the meeting where you are giving the review, the employee may have questions. Allow them to ask questions throughout the meeting, and leave some time at the end for any final questions. This allows the employee to feel heard and seek any clarification for how they can proceed in their future endeavors. Even if you think you covered everything or that everything was very clear, the employee may have some lingering questions. Account for questions when scheduling the meeting. Allowing the employee to ask questions will give them an opportunity to gain clarity about where you are coming from and will help give them a chance to gain tips for moving forward.

Ask for feedback

After you give your review, ask your employee if they have any feedback to offer about the company. This gives them a chance to tell you about their experience from their perspective. This information can be valuable moving forward, whether this employee is working with you in the future or not. When you receive the feedback, keep doing the things you are doing well as a company. If you receive feedback about things that can be different, take a look to see if there are things you can do to address them that are within your company’s structures. Be mindful that if you have to deliver constructive criticism, the employee may feel tempted to criticize the company, so take the feedback with a grain of salt.

Focus on professional work

When reviewing an employee, it may be tempting to go after their personality. However, this is not the point of performance reviews. Reviews should focus on professional work and specific behaviors instead of personality traits. Taking this approach will prevent the employee from getting defensive when receiving the feedback. It can be difficult to receive feedback, especially if there is room for the employee to improve moving forward, but detaching the feedback from their personality traits and focusing on their work will help ease the blow a bit.

Self-assessment

Before your review meeting, prepare a self-assessment for your summer employees to fill out. Have them be honest, assessing their goals and how much they have accomplished this summer. This can be a great starting point for your review, especially if your employee takes the self-assessment seriously and gives honest feedback about their accomplishments. Otherwise, they may just give themselves a highly positive review, even if they had a few things they could improve upon.

Peer assessment

As a manager, you may not always see the ins and outs of your employees’ workdays. You may only see the outcomes of work that is produced. If your summer employee was mentored by another employee, talk to them to see the progress they made throughout the summer. Talk to their other coworkers as well to see how it was to work with them. An employee may work hard and get results, but if they are difficult to work with, this needs to be addressed as well.

Knowing what to cover in a summer employee’s review can be challenging, but it is essential to cover certain things so your employee can grow and learn from their experience.