There is so much to be said when it comes to annual or quarterly performance reviews. The truth? It is the little things you do for your employee year-round to monitor their career progression and provide the support that will truly make a performance management effective.
It is essential as a manager to keep track of your employee’s professional development, provide support, and set them up for success. It all begins with fostering and maintaining a professional relationship with your employee. Make it a point to meet with them regularly. Start by scheduling recurring meetings, including the semi-annual and annual reviews, so that your employee can look forward to them (employee performance review software for SMBs simplifies the job). The basis of these meetings is to collaboratively provide performance feedback to employees, raise awareness, offer solutions and answer any other questions or concerns. Remember, an effective performance review discussion is a two-way conversation, and thus each party must have an equal opportunity to communicate and you must use active listening skills.
Tip: To avoid poor quality meetings and common mistakes, allow enough time, prepare for them in advance and strategize a structure. Be sure to confirm that the allocated dates and times work for them. Oh, and do TAKE NOTES. These notes on employee performance will serve you wonders for your performance appraisal process.
Now that we got the performance management process covered on a micro-level, let us look at our tips for managers: the DOs and DON’Ts of modern performance reviews.