5 Tips for Maximizing Performance Reviews

Today, performance reviews are an essential tool for ensuring employee motivation and growth. But, for that statement to be true, the performance review itself must resonate with the employee. The employee must see it as an opportunity to learn more about how they performed and how they can improve their performance in the future.

In short, employees should be eager to attend their performance reviews, rather than nervous or hesitant. Do you remember getting performance reviews? How did you feel about them? Did you learn anything during your own reviews? Did it seem as though the manager giving the performance review would rather be doing anything else? Or was your performance review fun and informative?

Now that you are the one giving performance reviews, you’ve got a lot to think about before preparing each review. Performance reviews should never just be as simple as a run-by-the-numbers checklist. Rather, they should be customized towards each individual’s particular traits to be truly effective.

To aid in this endeavor, there are a number of useful performance review tools and performance management software packages you can utilize. These manager tools are particularly useful now that performance reviews have evolved due to increasing numbers of remote workers and hybrid offices. Keep reading to learn more about how performance reviews have changed and how they can be a key component in ensuring employee retention.

The Changing Face of Performance Reviews

There was a time not too long ago when many companies were abandoning performance reviews altogether. Manages hated giving them, and employees hated receiving them. Instead, informal reviews and occasional management check-ins became the standard in many corporations. But the problem wasn’t actually the performance review itself, but rather how they were conducted.

Too many performance reviews focused on what employees were doing wrong instead of recognizing their hard work and achievements or offering opportunities for learning and growth. Managers used poor performance reviews as an excuse to deny promotions and raises, and this only served to demotivate employees further.

However, with the development of helpful performance review tools and a better understanding of both employee and manager expectations, the performance review has evolved to become more effective than ever. With an emphasis on positive feedback and a recognition of an employee’s contributions, performance reviews have grown to become a positive employee experience.

Performance Reviews and a Remote Workforce

Have you had to give a performance review to your remote workers yet? How do you think it went? If a remote workforce is a relatively new concept for your company, then making that transition was likely difficult at the start. Figuring out how to give performance reviews remotely also comes with its unique challenges. Performance management software makes this task easier, but there are other tips you can follow to maximize your performance reviews for the benefit of both the company and the employee.

Employee Performance Review Tips

For starters, get rid of the idea that performance reviews should only be an annual occurrence. There is little hope of strong company alignment if employees only get feedback on their performance once a year. You can set your own schedule, but monthly or bi-monthly reviews might be more ideally suited to enabling managers and employees to stay on the same page. Then, improve your performance management with a Manager Feedback template, a performance review tool that provides an employee with a better sense of their performances and opportunities for growth and improvement.

Make Performance Reviews More Engaging

The performance review shouldn’t be one-sided. Instead, you should invite questions and feedback from the employee. Manager tools and performance review software packages such as Assembly can help you improve upon the performance review content and context. For example, you can help improve employee happiness and become better aware of employee aspirations and career development desires with a Development Survey Flow template.

Focus on the Future

While many performance reviews tend to focus on the past, more effective reviews will instead focus on the future. Discuss how things can be improved in the future, rather than focusing on mistakes or things that didn’t go well that can no longer be fixed.

Be Objective

Performance reviews should be based on facts, not opinions or your personal feelings about a particular employee. Collect data about an employee’s accomplishments, challenges, goal progress, and more, and put this all together into a cohesive and transparent review. Use performance review phrases that serve to inspire and recognize employee achievement. The 360° Review performance review tool can help with this.

Make Time and Be Prepared

Performance reviews should never appear to be rushed, unorganized meetings. You should be fully prepared and have ample time set aside to perform a positive and meaningful review. Appearing as though you have more important things to do will set a negative tone right from the start and impact the effectiveness of the evaluation.

In Conclusion

Well-thought and professionally conducted performance reviews that focus on encouraging and improving employee performance can greatly benefit the employee and your company as a whole. Check out the performance review templates from Assembly for great aid in improving performance management.