What is a Performance Review?

3 Tips for Performance Review That Will Bring Value to Your Business

If you’re wondering what is a performance review and if it should be a practice used by your company, then read on. Performance review is a form of appraisal and evaluation of an employee’s contribution in terms of time, quality, cost and quantity. It is generally performed by the corresponding supervisor or manager of a particular individual. This review is used to guide and manage regarding the value of a certain employee to the business. In terms of what is a performance review worth to your company, you will be able to specifically identify the successes and failures of each employee who has been appraised, as well as his or her strengths and weaknesses, whether he or she requires further training, and whether he or she is suitable for a promotion or a wage increase. This tool provides your business with a way to understand the performance of an employee based on factors outside of only productivity. Moreover, it gives you an opportunity to document any issues associated with that employee, should the need ever arise that he or she must be fired. This helps you to build a strong legal case.

The following are some helpful tips that will assist your managers in achieving these goals.

Keep a set review schedule

The true value in a performance review is your ability to continually provide useful feedback so that improvement is consistently made. Therefore, these appraisals should not be performed only once, but should occur on a regular, predictable schedule of which the employees are aware. Once they become accustomed to the process, the majority of employees consider the performance review to be helpful and valuable, so that they can understand what they are doing right and where they have room for improvement. Therefore, by providing them with adequate preparation time for the review, you will ensure that you will be working with the employee to examine the year’s achievements, identify areas where improvement has been made since the previous review, and outline places where improvement is still required.

Obtain the input of third parties

Though the definition of performance review will generally discuss only the manager (or other superior) and the employee, it can be very helpful to obtain input from other people, as well. These assessments and observations will offer a perspective that can be quite different from what the manager witnesses or what the employee believes about him or herself. This is especially true when there is limited interaction between the employee and the manager. Speak with colleagues and others who have regular interactions with the individual under review. Talk to people within the same department and within other departments that require communication with the individual. Find out what others believe are the strengths and weaknesses, where challenges lie, if the individual is reliable, their opinion of the person’s capabilities for overcoming obstacles, and how he or she works in team projects. Compare the input you receive from your own observations and those made by the employee him or herself.

Take the appropriate amount of time

When you look at what is a performance review going to offer your business, you must realize that it is only valuable when it is done correctly. Therefore, if the task is rushed, then there will be far fewer benefits offered by the process than if it has been completed thoroughly and effectively. Managers should not wait until the day before the appraisal to begin critiquing and tracking the performance of a team member. This will be neither accurate nor fair to the achievements and abilities of that person. Instead, try to keep your eyes open over the long term and keep a file for each employee, so that little notes can be made over an extended period. Watch for performance both in collaborative and independent tasks.

By understanding the true nature of performance review and how it can help both you and your employees to improve and grow in the organization, you will be able to come up with a strong, consistent, and systematic process that will be helpful and welcomed instead of rushed and awkward.