6 Tips for Giving Successful Performance Reviews: An important part of running any successful business (or a small team), is to praise and motivate staff through effective performance reviews. Though the return of the performance review cycle might bring sighs around the office each year as workers wonder how they’ll be judged and managers try and think of something useful to say, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom.
With the following six tips, you will be able to give more successful performance reviews and spur your staff onto greater achievements.
Table of Contents
1. Be honest
In all aspects of business, one should be honest. However, a performance review is a particularly important place to be honest, as there is no room for false accusations or pretend compliments: if you fail to tell a staff member where they should improve, and later punish them for not doing so, it is on your head for not being honest in the first place.
2. Give notice
A manager should always give a reasonable amount of notice before launching performance reviews. Employees need to be given the time to gather their thoughts and prepare for what can be a stressful experience.
Springing unexpected performance reviews on staff members is disrespecting their time, something which might save you effort and administration time but certainly does not lead to improved employee performance. Respect their time, understand a review is something they will want to prepare for and give them significant notice.
3. Use modern, customizable review forms
Once you are in the performance review itself, you should use modern HR software to conduct the meeting, allowing you to fill out responses digitally, provide easy to read feedback, set your own questions and even provide an anonymous space for employee feedback.
Conducting performance reviews with printed paper forms is an outdated approach to an aspect of business that needs to be proactive and flexible in this modern corporate world.
4. Allow feedback
Do not allow a performance review that you are leading to become one sided. Read into the non-verbal reactions of your employee and consider how what you are saying is making them feel – don’t get defensive if the reaction isn’t positive, as this is not conducive to allowing constructive feedback and could upset them. With over 47 million people quitting their job in the United States in 2021, the Great Resignation is in full flow and you don’t want a bad performance review to lose you some hard-working staff members.
5. Check in regularly
Don’t underestimate the power of kindness at work. Simply checking in with your employees each day and asking them how they are will lead to a more open and honest performance review when the time comes. In fact, your performance reviews will be much easier and shorter if you are giving constant feedback to employees and connecting with them personally throughout the rest of the year.
6. Tailor your approach
Finally, never forget that no two employees are the same. One may prefer to be told criticisms very directly while their colleague needs a gentler approach. Modern business is about being flexible and personable and this should be incorporated into performance reviews.
Try taking these 6 tips above to turn an activity that most dread, into something genuinely productive for your employees and your business. By getting to know your employees throughout the year and changing your approach to suit the individual, these meetings will become less intimidating and more rewarding.
