Standardizing Performance Reviews
Completing performance reviews on a regular basis is essential for maintaining motivation, assessing department capabilities, and managing your staff effectively. Managers who do not complete performance reviews or deal with performance issues reduce employee morale, decrease credibility of management, diminish organizational effectiveness, and contribute to increased costs for resources. Use Demand Metric's downloadable Performance Review Template to help you standardize your employee performance review process.
What are the Key Areas to Evaluate & Measure?
- Competency Evaluation - this section provides a series of objective skills, behaviors, and attitudes, and asks respondents to rate the employee's ability.
- Objectives & Results - compare results for the review period with the pre-defined objectives set at the last performance review.
- Accomplishments - use this area to discuss key accomplishments made in the review period and highlight how these helped the organization hit its goals.
- Strengths & Opportunities - document the top 3 strengths and opportunities for improvement. These areas will be evaluated in subsequent performance reviews to determine if the employee is developing new skills & abilities.
- Suggestions for Organizational Improvement - this section allows the employee to suggest any business processes that could be improved. It is very important that a review is a two-way process; be sure to take these ideas to heart and go to bat for your team with Senior Management.
- Professional Development Plan - development plan should include specific development objectives, related activities to support knowledge & skill growth, and measures & timeframes for completion.
Action Plan:
- Obtain Senior Management Approval - discuss this process with Senior Management to ensure your organization is committed to employee development.
- Determine Review Schedule - select an appropriate review schedule that fits with your normal operating procedures. If you have a slower period, use this time to complete the personal development plan process.
- Customize Performance Reviews - use our downloadable Performance Review Template as a starting point. You will need to customize the Competency Evaluation to ensure that various roles are being evaluated based on the relevant criteria to do that job effectively.
- Conduct 360° Degree Reviews - provide review forms to the employee (self-assessment), immediate co-workers, and yourself. Have each member of the review team complete the Competency section and average the results. Compiling the notes from each anonymous reviewer is a great way to give candid feedback that can really accentuate strengths & weaknesses.
- Evaluate Process & Improve - following the reviewing cycle, consider how this round of reviews went. Brainstorm ideas that can improve the process, and ask your team for feedback from their perspective. Don't forget to have your team evaluate you, or risk leaving them feeling alienated or micro-managed.
- Help Other Departments - once you have developed a Best Practice with employee performance reviews, use your experience to help other departments standardize their review process.
Bottom-Line:
Performance reviews are a very effective method for communicating frankly with your staff, discussing development plans, and learning how your organization can improve its processes. Look at this procedure as a growth experience for everyone.
