Performance reviews can be highly emotional, especially for the employee. It is best to approach a review with a specific agenda in mind. Plan what you are going to say during each part of the review. Be sure you can successfully deliver the message you intend, regardless of the employee’s response.
It is vital that you ensure that the person you are reviewing heard what you said, too often a person listens, but does not hear. This can be accomplished by:
- Giving examples
- Asking the employee to relate their understanding of an issue
- Wording sensitive issues in easy to understand language
So often a performance review is viewed as a necessary evil for both parties involved. The employee is experiencing high stress over the face-to-face evaluation, the possible expectations and outcome. It’s the equivalent of an adult report card. A parent’s signature is not necessary, but you could lose your job.
Recruiting is a sales profession and sales people need feedback and they need to understand specific expectations and goals. It’s not enough to just review them at the end of the month when they have either attained their goals or fallen short.
INITIAL RULES OF A PERFORMANCE REVIEW
- Present the review as a positive exchange. Your employee will be more honest during the process.
- Set a date and never change the scheduled review time. Changing a review date dramatically increases the stress level of the employee.
- Do not take phone calls or interruptions during the reviews process. This shows your employee that they are important.
- Have your employees fill out the same review form you complete. You both bring two copies of the review. This enables you to compare the results. The longer you manage an individual, the more similar your responses will become. This also recognizes glaring differences, which help you focus future training efforts.
- Allow your employee to share ideas, discuss problems and offer solutions. Take notes during the entire discussion.
- Review statistics and give your recruiter their individual ratios. Just as important, determine what is most important to this person. What will motivate them to greatness? Your employees will only succeed for their reasons not yours.
- It is very important to realize that you don’t create top producers, you hire them. If this person is not capable of becoming a top producer, you need to set realistic goals and objectives.
- Listen, listen, listen! Do not interrupt while your employee is talking. Try to avoid sharing your opinions, stick to the facts and to the items listed on your review form.
- During the review process, discuss positives as well as negatives. Have a written plan of action completed to help this person attain their goals. This plan of action is discussed and agreed upon during the review.
- Always end on a positive note. If your intention is retention, you must end on a positive note, you are not the host of the weakest link.
- Make sure you have plan of action with set follow up times. You need to be solution, oriented with specific set dates for a performance checkup between formal reviews, people will do what you inspect vs. expect.
Performance reviews are an on-going process. As a manager, an important part of your job is motivating and encouraging your employees to be productive contributors.
Employee performance reviews are a powerful tool toward this end. By approaching the appraisal process as an on-going, positive event, you can:
- Increase communication
- Establish clear expectations
- Reinforce good performance
- Improve unsatisfactory performance
- Foster a spirit of cooperation and teamwork
Summation and scheduling performance checkups
Unless the employee’s performance is substantially less than satisfactory, try to end the review on a positive note. You might say, “The firm and I very much appreciate your work, and we are glad to have you here”.
If you find it necessary to schedule a future performance checkup, ensure that your employee has a clear understanding of expectations and timeframe. This must also be done in a way that shows the employee that you have their best interest in mind.
The impression you leave with an employee at the end of the performance review can make the difference of retention or resignation.