Who can carry out a performance appraisal of an employee?
What is a performance review for employees?A performance review is a formal regulated assessment mechanism in which managers and other key stakeholders evaluate an employee’s work performance. The purpose is to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses, offer constructive feedback for skill development in the future, and assist with goal setting. Show
Whichever methodology you choose for performance reviews, a well-planned and executed performance review boosts employee engagement and sets the tone for creating a culture of feedback and ongoing development at your organisation. eBook: Use Employee Lifecycle Feedback to improve your EX Types of performance reviewWeekly or fortnightly performance evaluationWeekly or fortnightly performance reviews don’t need to collect a vast amount of data each time or be particularly goal-oriented. They are helpful for record-keeping and making sure a project – especially an agile or fast-moving one – stays on track week by week Monthly performance appraisalsThese are especially useful for businesses who employ people on short-term contracts or freelancers, and for new hires during their onboarding process, as they go from job description to actual performance. New projects also benefit from monthly employee reviews so that they stay on track and organisational goals are met. Some employees typically prefer monthly check-ins over annual reviews. Quarterly performance evaluationsCompanies divide their business year into quarters (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), with set goals, targets, and budgets. It makes sense that assessing performance is run alongside these. Three months is sufficient time for an employee to achieve their goals and targets, as well as hone their organisational skills. You can also aggregate weekly/fortnightly or monthly reviews together each quarter to create a report of an employee’s progress, ready for a review meeting. Annual performance reviewSome businesses still conduct an annual review, but it is increasingly being replaced, or at least supplemented, by pulse surveys and 360 reviews throughout the year. These traditional and formal performance reviews tended to become overblown, with too much information on them to be manageable, or to be a fair evaluation of an employee’s efforts. They looked back on past performance rather than forwards to future performance, and a year is far too long for employees to go without feedback. That said, reviews and feedback throughout the year collated into one 12-month overall performance report are a useful bank of information, provided all the feedback has had actions attached to it. Who runs an employee performance review?It’s usually the person’s line manager, as they know most about the employee’s role and their current work. In some cases, a leadership group, team leader, or a more senior leader may lead the review or someone from human resources. Why are performance reviews important?As well as long-term positive outcomes, performance reviews offer an immediate lift – not only for businesses but for employees who want an overview of their strengths and weaknesses and progress in their careers. Here are some of the benefits performance reviews can offer: 1.
Aligning personal roles to business goals 2. A clear understanding of job roles 3. Regular feedback about performance Performance management can be a motivational tool, encouraging employees not only to feel more satisfied in their work but to take action beyond what’s expected. 4. Career development 5. Rewards for good performance Collect and apply employee feedback with our 360-Feedback eBook: Download Now What’s the best approach for performance reviews?With so many practices, HR policies, tools, and techniques involved, no two performance management programs will look the same. Some have grading systems. Others have question and response formats, while others are expected to be free-form. Just like your company culture, your performance management system will be unique and specific to your values, your goals and your purpose. However, every good employee performance review process seeks to improve how the overall organisation performs while supporting the performance, development, productivity, and well-being of its employees. Despite this common goal, data suggests that traditional approaches to performance management can be demotivating, uninspiring, and make people want to give up rather than work harder and progress. In fact, traditional performance management (PM) is universally disliked by both managers and employees. It is seen as having little value and has failed to meet its intended goal of improving performance. According to research reported in the Journal of Industrial and Organisational Psychology:
It’s time to make the case for change and redesign performance management. Instead of an annual performance review, a better performance management system frequently engages its employees to better gauge their work satisfaction levels. So rather than focusing on past performance in a yearly review, a better employee performance evaluation system incorporates continuous feedback. Research from Josh Bersin estimates that about 75% of multinational companies are moving toward this model. What should a performance review look like?Performance reviews based on a continuous feedback philosophy are more likely to be future-focused and geared towards promoting growth and development. Rather than rating employees against a one-size-fits-all standard based on their past performance, continuous performance management treats each employee as an individual whose full potential can be maximised. However, adopting continuous feedback doesn’t mean removing measurement and metrics from your performance review process and reports altogether – it just means you should be using them in a different way. Metrics and measurements can provide valuable clarity and focus for employees and managers, acting as a framework for planning and prioritizing future efforts. To be useful and realistic, measurements for progress need to be balanced across all the relevant elements of performance. Appropriate measures might cover a range of aspects like quality, quantity, timeliness, and/or cost-effectiveness of the work. Expectations placed on employees also need to be credible – the employee can visualize the results and the means of achieving them, and feel confident about getting it right. To that end, performance expectations must be:
How to set the right goals in a performance reviewWhen it comes to employee goals, striking the right balance is everything. Goals can’t be too easy, or they won’t leave employees feeling satisfied — most people enjoy a challenge. They want to be stretched, expand their knowledge, and develop new skills. Equally, however, goals that are too challenging can be demotivating. Employees will burn out trying to accomplish them, or they won’t try at all, believing them to be impossible. Effective goals should be set collaboratively between manager and employee. They should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time Based) and tracked regularly. In addition, regular meetings should be held to discuss goal progress and what can be done to support the employee in meeting the target. Performance review templatesNobody can, or should, conduct an off-the-cuff performance review. It’s essential to use customisable templates that cover all the necessary feedback areas and metrics, and also deliver a positive review that energises, motivates, and engages individual employees. Read more about performance reviews Performance review examples: phrases and questionsWhichever performance review model you’re working within, providing feedback with clear, positive language is the key to keeping the review goal-focused and productive. Writing performance reviews requires managers and other raters to be specific with their feedback, stay constructive, and provide solutions needed to help the employee grow. You’ll find criteria will vary depending on the size, scope, and culture of your organisation. However, there are a few elements that come up for almost all companies. Here are a few sample areas of focus to get you started with planning your employee evaluation criteria: Accomplishing goals
Leadership qualities
Communication
Teamwork
Culture/Values
The content of a performance review will vary depending on job role and organisation, but it may be valuable to develop some universal questions for managers to ask, such as:
To help you in composing your employee evaluation criteria, you can download free performance review templates from Qualtrics. Performance review phrases to avoidAlthough performance review templates and performance reviews themselves are customisable, it’s important to be mindful of the messages you are giving out. Great review conversations nurture an employee’s performance, development, and manager-employee relationship, whereas thoughtless ones can damage employee engagement and even business success as your top people leave. Here are some real howlers – while some of these may seem a little over the top, they do demonstrate neatly what NOT to say, and why not: “You do so brilliantly, I have nothing to give you feedback on”Even your very top talent will have some areas they can improve or develop skills in. Comments like this give the impression you haven’t bothered to look at their work in any detail. “If you double your targets this year, then we might look at promotion to the C-suite next year”Avoid ‘if/then’ statements, as they sound like empty promises, based on unattainable goals. “You’re never at your desk on time. And you’re always late to meetings”Avoid absolute words such as ‘always’ and ‘never’ – no one is late 100% of the time. “You’re a great employee. Keep it up”This says nothing about what the employee does that is great, how they can be even greater, or what they can do to ‘keep it up’. You need to explain in detail what the employee did that was great and their development goals to continue their good work “I heard you handled that financial services account badly, which was disappointing, to say the least”The reviewer is relying on hearsay here rather than first-hand observation and gives the employee no chance to put over their version before being criticised. True, it may be peer observation, but using 360 feedback rather than the office gossip mill is much more constructive. “You knocked the other two designers into a cocked hat. Their prototypes were trash compared with yours.”Comparing colleagues and co-workers in a performance review is a big NO. You’re reviewing only one person’s achievements, so leave the disasters (and triumphs) of others to their own, separate performance discussions. “I can’t believe you! I thought you would do a good job of this, but it’s very poor”The reviewer is bringing emotion into this feedback, which will only upset or rile the employee having the review. There is no constructive feedback and this level of hostility is likely to drive the employee to look for another job. “You’re lucky to get this promotion. Don’t waste the opportunity”Condescending and begrudging much? You never want to undermine your employees but rather praise them and encourage their successes. Forcing employees into a promotion does not mean its the best option for them, they deserve to choose. How to prepare to conduct a performance reviewIf you’re a manager or team leader tasked with running appraisals for your team, you’re likely to have an established performance review process to guide your approach. However, you can still make the review experience go as smoothly as possible by preparing in advance. Clear your calendarIf you’re going to be meeting with team members one on one, make sure you won’t be distracted or interrupted by other priorities during the meeting. Try to minimise commitments earlier in the day to reduce the risk of getting waylaid and having to postpone the review or turn up late. This way, employees know that the review is as important to you as it is to them. Brush up on your employee experience dataBefore the meeting, look through your notes from the most recent review with the employee to see what happened last time. What were the main themes of the meeting? Was there anything either of you said you’d follow up on? Be ready to take feedback as well as give itMake sure you allow enough time for the employee to share their feedback with you regarding the way you manage and bring a laptop or notebook to record it so that you can follow up later. Prepare for curveballsAlthough you shouldn’t be telling the employee anything they don’t already know about their performance, it’s very possible that they’ll bring up matters that are news to you. Because they’re private one-to-one exchanges, reviews may be seen as an opportunity to raise issues or share news. While it might not be pertinent to the review itself, be receptive to whatever the employee brings up and table it for a later conversation if required. Performance review pitfalls to avoidAs you’re planning or reviewing your performance review process, you can save time and expense by being aware of these potential failure points. 1. Losing the link between process and purpose 2. Not prioritising a culture of
feedback 3. Failing to engage your stakeholders 4. Not building in a support network 5. Lack of communication 6. Insufficient training and enablement for managers Alternative ways to collect feedbackFor many businesses, performance reviews are the most helpful way to share and collect employee feedback. But thanks to the uptick in experience-led business and a new understanding of the value of employee experience, new methodologies are emerging. 360 feedbackIn a 360 feedback, staff members can receive feedback not only from managers, but from peers and junior staff members. They can also review themselves, resulting in a complete – or 360 degree – view of their strengths and opportunities. However, this kind of program should only ever be used for development, not to gauge performance. Continual feedbackSome companies prefer to avoid the formal structure of a performance review and instead share feedback on a continual ad hoc basis. This might be a suitable option for very small businesses and new start-ups. However, there is a risk that without a formal checkpoint, staff lack clarity on how they’re progressing and what they need to work on. Employee pulse reviewsThe employee pulse review can be seen as a happy medium between continual feedback and a big once-a-year performance review. It’s a smaller-scale employee review that’s conducted on a more frequent schedule, such as monthly or quarterly. Pulse feedback is more commonly associated with employee engagement surveys, but it works just as well for sharing feedback in the other direction since it offers clear measures and is quick and easy to complete. Incorporate 360 feedback in a performance reviewMany clients ask us about the ideal use case for a 360 assessment. Some of them use it for performance management while others purely for development. With performance reviews moving away from critique of workers and more towards continuous development and employee engagement, 360s are a valuable part of performance management software. At Qualtrics, we believe that 360 is ideal for development because feedback should be seen as an investment into an employee through feedback from peers, direct reports, managers, leaders, and customers rather than a tool that determines their pay, performance, or promotion. To ensure fidelity of responses and to be seen as an authentic review (not a political tool), our recommendation is to incorporate 360 into your performance management software as a review process for developing your employees and not evaluating them. This article was written by the EmployeeXM teamOur EX Scientists are a global team of Employee Experience consultants who deliver advisory services for our clients to help them design and deliver world class EX strategies & programs. They provide empirically driven, best practice solutions. This post was originally written June, 2019 and was updated August, 2021. References: Bersin Josh. (2018). We wasted ten years talking about performance ratings. The seven things we’ve learned. Josh Bersin Institute: Retrieved March 18th from https://joshbersin.com/2018/11/we-wasted-ten-years-talking-about-performance-ratings-the-seven-things-weve-learned/#_ftn1 Capelli, P & Tavis, Anna (2016) Assessing Performance: The Performance Management Revolution. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved March 18th from https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-performance-management-revolution Enderes, K., & Derunts, M. (2018). Seven Top Findings for Enabling Performance in the Flow of Work, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP. Kathi Enders (2018) Performance Management, Disrupted: Enabling Performance in the Flow of Work. Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP. Pulakos, E. D., Hansen, M. R., Cargill, A. S., Moye, N. (2015). Performance Management can be fixed: An on the job experiential learning approach for complex behavior change. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol 8(1), 51–76. Rodgers, R., & Hunter, J. E. (1991). Impact of management by objectives on organizational productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 76(2), 322–336. Smith, M. and Bititci, U. (2017), “Interplay between performance measurement and management, employee engagement and performance”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol 37(9), 1207-1228. |