5 tips for preparing your employees' annual performance reviews
12 June 2014
Read by 2862 persons
Employee evaluation is important for the good management of any organization (small, medium or large). It helps to make informed decisions by knowing, for example, the level of profitability, employee and customer satisfaction, and the evolution of the organization.
The evaluation of your employees should not serve as a control or judgment but rather as a means of improvement. For this exercise to be worthwhile, it must be mastered. Here are some tips to optimize this annual meeting with your employees.
Properly prepare for the meeting
Conducting a performance review requires preparation and reflection beforehand. To do this, you must review your employee's previous evaluations one by one and check whether the objectives defined the previous year have been achieved or not by each of them.
Ideally, a performance review should be prepared throughout the year. Don't wait until December to think about your employees' performance.
Make the employee an active participant
Before the meeting, start by asking your employee to do a self-assessment. To do this, they should review their objectives one by one and define the extent to which they have achieved them and, if not, what means they have implemented.
They will thus make their own assessment on an objective basis. This analysis should lead them to mention the problems they encountered during the year and the points they can improve. These are all topics that could cause them to withdraw if you bring them up out of the blue.
Also consider asking them what they were proud to accomplish this year, how they did it, and what it brought them. This will highlight their successes and motivate them even more.
Evaluate the relationship
Once this delicate assessment phase is over, you can focus on your employee's feelings by asking them how they feel in the company and in their team.
This will be the time for you to evaluate the smooth functioning of your relationship and to question yourself if any discomfort is felt and expressed.
It is also a good way to transition to setting objectives for the coming year.
Set new objectives by mutual agreement
This is a key step because it determines the basis for the coming year. It is therefore on the basis of the evaluation that you have just carried out that you set the new objectives and the important thing is to ask yourself how to develop your employee's strengths and highlight possible areas for improvement.
However, it is essential to involve your employee in this step by asking them what objectives they think they can achieve and what they intend to do to achieve them. You can then conclude the interview with a show of confidence in them in order to start the new year on a positive note.
Avoid discussing salary
The issue of salary should not be addressed during the performance review. It is preferable to discuss it during a later interview that would be entirely dedicated to it so as not to pollute the dialogue, which should be as free as possible.
In conclusion, to optimize the progress of your performance reviews and allow them to help you better manage your company, remember to stay focused on the objectives, how they can be achieved and what means are to be implemented in this sense.
Don't forget something else that is also important, which is to evaluate your role in the result obtained. Because in the end, it is also up to you, as a manager, to improve the performance of your employees. In this way, you will contribute to making your organization a model of success through the fulfillment of your employees.
Philippe Montant
General Manager of ReKrute
The evaluation of your employees should not serve as a control or judgment but rather as a means of improvement. For this exercise to be worthwhile, it must be mastered. Here are some tips to optimize this annual meeting with your employees.
Properly prepare for the meeting
Conducting a performance review requires preparation and reflection beforehand. To do this, you must review your employee's previous evaluations one by one and check whether the objectives defined the previous year have been achieved or not by each of them.
Ideally, a performance review should be prepared throughout the year. Don't wait until December to think about your employees' performance.
Make the employee an active participant
Before the meeting, start by asking your employee to do a self-assessment. To do this, they should review their objectives one by one and define the extent to which they have achieved them and, if not, what means they have implemented.
They will thus make their own assessment on an objective basis. This analysis should lead them to mention the problems they encountered during the year and the points they can improve. These are all topics that could cause them to withdraw if you bring them up out of the blue.
Also consider asking them what they were proud to accomplish this year, how they did it, and what it brought them. This will highlight their successes and motivate them even more.
Evaluate the relationship
Once this delicate assessment phase is over, you can focus on your employee's feelings by asking them how they feel in the company and in their team.
This will be the time for you to evaluate the smooth functioning of your relationship and to question yourself if any discomfort is felt and expressed.
It is also a good way to transition to setting objectives for the coming year.
Set new objectives by mutual agreement
This is a key step because it determines the basis for the coming year. It is therefore on the basis of the evaluation that you have just carried out that you set the new objectives and the important thing is to ask yourself how to develop your employee's strengths and highlight possible areas for improvement.
However, it is essential to involve your employee in this step by asking them what objectives they think they can achieve and what they intend to do to achieve them. You can then conclude the interview with a show of confidence in them in order to start the new year on a positive note.
Avoid discussing salary
The issue of salary should not be addressed during the performance review. It is preferable to discuss it during a later interview that would be entirely dedicated to it so as not to pollute the dialogue, which should be as free as possible.
In conclusion, to optimize the progress of your performance reviews and allow them to help you better manage your company, remember to stay focused on the objectives, how they can be achieved and what means are to be implemented in this sense.
Don't forget something else that is also important, which is to evaluate your role in the result obtained. Because in the end, it is also up to you, as a manager, to improve the performance of your employees. In this way, you will contribute to making your organization a model of success through the fulfillment of your employees.
Philippe Montant
General Manager of ReKrute
