Performance Review
How do I start a performance review process?
Getting performance reviews right is a challenge many companies struggle with. In a recent survey, Deloitte found that 80 per cent of workers are dissatisfied with their performance reviews. Add to that the 58 per cent of executives who can’t see any performance benefits from their current review processes, and you start to see a disheartening trend.
How to create a review process that adds value
Treating the review process as an annual chore will certainly lead to dissatisfaction, for managers and employees alike. One survey discovered that 92 per cent of employees would prefer to receive helpful feedback more than once per year, while Gallup found that with regular feedback, employees are nearly three times more likely to be engaged in their work.
Regular reviews form part of an ongoing conversation with each employee about their performance and career aspirations. The employee is able to raise issues with a manager before they develop into critical problems, and the manager maintains a meaningful connection with the people working in their team.
Keep it simple!
The easier and more straightforward your ongoing review process is, the greater the uptake and engagement will be. Regular performance management conversations shouldn’t happen just once a year; for a truly effective process, they should feature feedback, recognition and reviews, which will in turn help shape the culture of your workplace. Starting with the induction process, and continuing with probation reviews, regular check-in sessions can continue seamlessly throughout an employee’s career.
With 72 per cent of millennial employees admitting that they feel ‘in the dark’ when assessing their work performance and looking for guidance on how to improve, it is easy to see the benefits of an ongoing, regular review process.
Assessing your review process
How do you know whether your review process is likely to improve performance? Start with asking yourself the following questions:
- What is the impact on each manager’s workload?
- Is the review process easy and straightforward to administer, or are your managers bogged down with complex paperwork and time-consuming record-keeping.
- After each review, does the employee know they have been heard?
- Have your managers listened to the issues raised by the members of their team, or are they treating the review as a top-down process?
- Does your organisation use the employee feedback to make beneficial changes?
- Are all the team members moving in the right direction for your company to succeed?
- Does each employee own their objectives? How are you assessing this?
Getting it right for your organisation
It is helpful to remember right off the bat that every organisation is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Your company will have unique cultural and strategic characteristics, management styles, as well as a diverse set of people. So, a performance review process that works for your whole company will reflect your unique workplace and the needs of your employees.
A continuous process of review helps to ensure that both managers and employees are kept informed of performance issues and barriers to improvement. Each review should be used to consolidate and reaffirm objectives for the individual and the team, and should contain no surprises for either party. Keep disciplinary action out of your review process – this should only be engaged when performance management has not produced a desired improvement.
The next step
An effective performance review process can transform your organisation and I can help you achieve that goal. Give me a call on 07848 872018 or drop me an email at pippa@strengthinpeople.com to discuss a solution for your unique workplace.
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