Employee review process is an important process which is to be done in every organization atleast once in a year. Though the employees likes it or not , it is a must process which is practiced.
This program help the employers to identify the goals setup, the accomplishments or achievements of the employees, address problems and also things related to productivity of the company for the future.
By this review process the employee also has few gains in the form of promotions, hike in pay or other incentives etc. There are many forms of making employee review process successful but exercising a smarter employee review process will be much more helpful.
Here are few tips that needs to be followed in this process.
Effective Employee Review Process Tips:
1. Aim at setting goals:
Though it may be mentioned as employee review process, it must not be a review process that analysis the employee alone. Apart from reviewing the employee, the management should look forward to dedicate time for benchmarks, goals, and other initiatives for getting forward.
2. Arranging for extra meetings a year:
The usual habit of the employers is that they conduct review meetings just once a year which is considered as ineffective. At the end of the year reviews are conducted which does not effectively measure the effects of employees nor does it help them achieve the goals.
An employee may have not achieved till date and stands without goals at a time of the meeting. It is stressful and none of them are immune by the end of the year. It is hence suggested to conduct meetings at the mid of the year along with other reviews.
3. Listening is more important:
The employees gains an opportunity to improve with the help of review. It is also considered as a chance to listen to the employee’s feedback in order to enhance their performance. Presenting lectures in reviews can be avoided and listening to their ideas can also be followed in order to make the review effective.
4. Make way for conversation:
Usually, reviews are formal and completed in a rigid manner. An important beneficial fact of review is that connections with team members can be achieved. It would be interesting if there is a conversation about current events and other interests being shared before a review starts.
By this way, if there are any barriers for employees it would be broken.
5. Ending in an optimistic way:
It is mandatory to remember that reviews must be completed on a high note. A review can be a session to praise but not all the time, this can include notes in areas of improvement. It is always best to end the review with one or two positive notes at the end.
If the review has more to criticize the employee, it is important to bear in mind not to discourage the employee and end the review with a positive tone.
6. Separating reviews as per its content:
There is a main reason to conduct reviews at mid-year as reviews should be separated based on their content if they are to measure employee’s performance or if the review is about compensation aspect.
Chairman of true point Michael Beer mentions that nothing can be done to change the problem of employees by listening to a review that speaks about employee’s compensation plans and bonus. Such kind of irrelevant arrangement of meetings can be defensive and closed for employees.
Beer also mentions that in a developmental discussion, the employee and employer should gain an opportunity to solve the problem. The discussion should be directed in a way where employees are directed to ideas about improving and how employers can help them.
Employers must remember to separate the sessions of reviews such as reviews for employee appraisal separately and development reviews separately so that employees are clear about what to discuss.
7. To be honest:
Paul Falcone who is an HR personnel mentions that inflation of feedback and averting confronting is considered as one of the biggest mistakes by employers. By this way, the employee isn’t improved and is a hindrance for employees for the way he needs to move on.
It is always good to make the conversation in an open-ended manner and also permit the employees to respond to the comment of the higher authorities such as a supervisor. It is advisable to concentrate on issues than on people.
8. Putting down the form:
Performance review by many managers are conducted by simply running down the appraisal form of the organization in a point wise manner with just grades rattled off for everyone.
Michael Beer who is a chairman of True point mentions that this is one of the worst ways for an evaluation to be conducted as it does not allow a chance for open discussion.
Beer also mentions that evaluation must not be about the grade to be given to the person or fill the piece of company paper, but it should be an open discussion so that the employee takes part in decision making.
By putting away the performance appraisal form and concentrating on it later by the end of the session, the meeting or evaluation can be made a productive one. Apart from discussing the way an employee has been working for a period of time, the issues that the employee has come across can also be mentioned.
This offers new ways about the improvement of the employee and also helps them to grow.
9. Let employees do the evaluation:
The best way which can be followed in order to have an open discussion is to hand over the evaluation process to the employees. This can also be considered as one of the best ways to motivate an employee where employees are able to assess their work.
The employees are to be assigned with three questions which they need to come up with answers for the evaluation.
The first would be about how was their performance? The next question would be what would they do as a supervisor in order to develop their skills? What would the employees aim for the upcoming years? And the outcomes for the mentioned goals are to be presented.
When such kind of task is handled, about 70% of the employees would take up and respond to the same and 10% may not be interested in such activity. It is believed that about 20% would be more active and feel motivated.
The employees who would be motivated and enjoying are the ones who perform the best in the organization. This can be considered as one of the smart ways for employee review process.
10. Avoiding anxiety:
It is quite natural for employees to feel anxious at the time of employee review process. This state can lead to a re-evaluation of employee review process. Anxiety levels can be reduced when the employee and his performance is made transparent
Fear can be avoided when the employee is well prepared for an employee review. Another way to avoid such fears can be by providing feedback to employees at regular intervals rather than maintaining it for reviews.
By this way, the employees are prepared for what they need to be discussed. In the same manner, employees who are able to understand the review process would be ones who would be a reception to the provided feedback and feel benefited.
11. Coming in a prepared manner:
The author of essential performance review handbook, Sharon Armstrong mentions that in order to evaluate an employee it is quite difficult to gather data about the good and bad aspects and also gain an objective view of the performance of the employee. It is mandatory for tracking achievements as well as slips ups throughout the year.
The specificity is the only aspect which presents the employee that the manager was watching, appreciating as well as noticing the employee throughout. On the evaluation day, it is necessary to make an outline discussion and pave the way for smooth conversation.
Also, the managers must make sure to follow up and sum up the discussion by the end of the session.
12. Make forms which are simple and easy to use:
When employee evaluation forms are considered, it is necessary to print clear information and examples so that managers and employees are able to know the real requirement for the section.
Also, the forms should possess a logical and sequential order rather than jumping and cross-referencing. It is also mandatory to make use of corporate language and terminology for the complete process for the competency names used and other descriptions.
13. Gather the right information:
There are varied goals for every employee review process such as goal setting, performance feedback, competency validation, high-performance identification, compensation adjustment and justification and lot more.
It is mandatory to know the right purpose for the employee review process and gather information accordingly. It is always advisable not put in too much of information in an employee evaluation form. It is advised to makes use of separate forms for each review so that they aren’t cluttered.
14. Establishing goals:
Establishing goals for the coming year is one more aspect which should be followed in an employee review process. Setting goals can be the best way to make larger challenges so that employees are prepared and work for the coming year.
SMART criteria can be followed in employee review process which means specific, measurable, ambitious, result based and time bound goals. By developing smart goals, the manager as well as the employee can clearly understand the requirement from the employee.
15. Being smart:
At times of the employee review process, the managers are the ones who are forced to write smart goals for the employees.
In order to make the review process smarter, it is advised that the managers can guide the employees to write smart goals and the chore of the manager is to only review the process.
The managers can later review the goals written by the employees and make sure if they are perfect, achievable, appropriate, and manageable, aligned with objectives of other companies.
By developing their own goals, employees are much more motivated to meet their goals.
16. Measuring between performance reviews:
In order to make out if the employee review process is successful and also developing a number of successful employees, it is mandatory to measure the rate of growth between the previous and current employee review process.
If the employee goals are not met and individual employee goals are not met then it is the duty of the employers to review the employee review process.
The employers need to know if the employees are being benefited from employee review process when the employees are provided with the appropriate feedback as the main intention of employee review is employee development.
An employee review is made smarter by offering more feedback for the employees and assisting them in setting goals which are the main aspect of the employee review process.
17. Giving importance to technology:
When employee reviews are considered employers must be updated and make proper use of the same. They must adopt the state of the art HR technology and incorporate it in the employee review process.
When starters are considered, the HR tech fosters can be followed which is beneficial for collaboration between employee and managers can be used.
By following such latest technology real-time feedback can be enhanced which is considered mandatory for the development of employees. Also, the automating sessions of employee review process are also perfect as they organize the employees and employers by storing data at a single place.
18. Timely performance reviews:
Employee reviews are conducted once in a year, where employees are busy at that month with more of administration and they also feel uneasy for accepting reviews.
Instead of waiting for annual employee reviews, employers can conduct reviews on a quarterly basis which can be a one to one meeting. This process also simplifies the process of monitoring goals and setting them.
By this way, the anxiety and fear within the employee are also reduced and the performance reviews are made successful and transparent.
Conclusion:
These are a few hints which can be followed in order to make the employee reviews smarter and successful. Employers, as well as employees, can run through these hints and incorporate them in their organization so that employee review processes are conducted in an easy and perfect way.
Employee review can also be completed in an appropriate manner with more transparency and success. Employees are clear about the process and cooperate with the employers when flexible processes are followed.
By this way, the employee review turns smarter and employees are developed to be productive.
