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by Susan Jeffery   08 Apr 2019
5 strategies for more effective performance reviews
Yearly talent evaluations are a mix of three elements:1) HR chasing down managers and employees to submit their reviews 2) managers rifling through months of hastily-written sticky notes, and 3) nervous employees sweating over how to reduce the last 12 months to a quick meeting.This strategy is ineffective and doesn’t reflect the needs of the modern worker.
Check out five new trends that deliver more meaningful, engaging performance evaluations that lead to tangible workforce growth.
Align employee + company goals
- Make goal setting a transparent process
- Align employee goals with company needs
- Discuss performance measurements
Setting goals makes employees feel invested in by placing them on a career path they helped to build, while managers are more able to leverage review sessions to reconcile their employees’ aspirations with the needs of the department and company.
Provide continuous feedback
- Assess goal progress at scheduled intervals
- Provide "in-the-moment" feedback and coaching
- Update goals to reflect organizational changes
Yearly performance reviews that are not coupled with meaningful conversations around employee development do little to boost engagement or inspire performance. To truly be drivers of employee engagement, managers need to be providing frequent feedback at point of need. Managers account for 70% of employee engagement, and engaged employees are more productive, so managers need to develop a more impactful review process to boost organizational performance.
Offer coaching when needed
- Provide situational / performance-based help
- Foster a culture of collaboration
- Leverage tools to break down communication silos
An employee’s performance roadblock reduces company profits, so managers (and even colleagues) need to provide immediate coaching and assistance; waiting until a year-end evaluation to course-correct only ignores a problem, risks making it worse, and further drains revenue.
Transform data into actionable insights
- Capture critical data on employee engagement and performance
- Identify skills gaps and competency weakness within your workforce
- Make data-driven decisions that reduce risk and impact the bottom lin
Many performance management tools create mounds of data, but how can you boost workforce and company performance if you don’t know how to interpret it? Stakeholders need to be able to slice and dice performance data to reveal training needs, uncover organizational trends, perform succession and compensation planning, and make strategic decisions that impact their bottom line.
Stronger intelligence leads to making better decisions, increases agility, and enables you to stay competitive in the marketplace.
Tie evaluations to learning opportunities
- Have transparent discussions about career paths and professional aspirations
- Address skills gaps with targeted training
- Develop a culture of continuous learning
Performance review discussions without development-focused action items are not nearly as effective. During performance reviews, managers and employees should discuss mutual goals and the individual employee’s career aspirations. Managers and employees that collaborate on a development plan are much more likely to experience boosts in engagement, productivity, retention, and bottom line growth.