Tips for an Effective Performance Review for Managers

In recent years, the employee performance review has received a lot of criticism for many reasons. The most common factor is traditional performance evaluation at the end of the day only cause headaches for both employees and managers. Most people believe that it is not even effective in driving an employee’s performance towards the desired level as it mainly focuses on pinpointing mistakes instead of clearing organizational goals and an employee’s overall contribution. Despite all this, there is still a possibility of improving the performance review system. Here is how to make it a positive experience for both managers and employees.

Don’t just look at the employee’s details and go to the meeting room. Comprehensively read the employee’s job description as well as the appraisal details. Go back over the last appraisal to catch up on things. In addition, talk to the staff and their peers for their perspective. Be sure to keep this assessment confidential, and it turns into something useful.

Always provide enough time to complete the process for the appraisal meeting. Any sort of interruption or short deadline will only make things complicated and inefficient. Also, never put anything else on the agenda, which means that the call or meeting should only be about the appraisal alone. You can set other calls/meetings to discuss other day-to-day topics.

It is best to refer back to previous appraisals/job description when discussing the performance of an employee. Having specific examples of good and poor performances show that you keep an eye on their job roles and contribution to the organizational goals. It even helps provide a concrete example if you and the employee differ in the analysis’s event. When you dig into real-world examples, you will come to a better understanding of the complex dynamics and pressures at work.

The best managers are the ones that do more listening and less talking during an appraisal meeting. Of course, it’s essential to discuss their performance from your perspective, but it is also vital to listen and understand their point of view. If you have questions about their performance, you must allow them to respond and explain their perspective. When you carefully listen to what they have to say, you can even suggest ways to improve their performance when needed.

Don’t wait for an employee’s performance evaluation to tell them they are not doing it the right way. Performance concerns need to be addressed as soon as they occur and not left for months before discussed. The appraisal meeting is about discussing long-term performance and opportunities, not for the blame game. It’s best not to drop any bombshells because nothing should come as a surprise.

The Bottom Line

In a nutshell, the performance appraisal system needs a lot of improvement. Fortunately, the advanced technology has brought better performance review tools, like SuiteVal, that allows you to simplify your organization’s appraisal processes. From HR to managers to employees, everyone can have a better experience with this performance appraisal system. It fully customizes whatever questions, roles, and departments a company may have. The powerful tool can manage every aspect of categorizing appraisals and generating insightful reports. All you need is a modern web browser (Firefox, Chrome, Edge, or Internet Explorer) to use this performance review tool.