7 Performance Review Tips

August 07, 2012, by Stephanie Messier | Performance Management

Managing employee performance is one of the most important activities to help ensure a company’s success.  So why do so many business owners and leaders avoid it?  It is often because they are unsure how to conduct a review that will be both meaningful for the employee and effectively change employee behaviour.  Below are 7 performance review tips to help you with your performance reviews:

1. Use performance logs for each of your employees.  Do not rely on your memory to remember specific examples of their contributions or skills they need to improve upon.  Write it down in your log and it will be easy to write your performance reviews later on.
2. Share your observations, not your impressions.  Feedback isn’t about passing  judgement but about sharing an observable behaviour.  That way, an employee won’t be debating the feedback with you since it is about something you specifically observed (factual). 
3. Shift the responsibility for the initial assessment back to your employees.  Start your performance review meeting with their self-assessment.  You will soon find that (most likely) they are harder on themselves than you would be.  Then the conversation is about the gaps between their own observations and yours.
4. Link the performance review to the company values.  For example, if communication and collaboration are keys to your company’s success, provide specific examples about behaviours you observed from your employees on those values.
5. Honesty is key.  Make sure your performance reviews reflect your employees’ true performance.  Don’t inflate the evaluation to make it easier on you in delivering the review.  They will feel it.
6. Involve your employees in setting goals.  Ask them, “what do you think you can achieve?”  Then negotiate your expectations.  While setting goals with them, avoid micromanaging in laying out every detail on how your employees should achieve those goals.  Let them come up with their own action plans on how to achieve those goals.  Do provide coaching, guidance and advice.
7. Use your performance review meeting as a coaching opportunity to develop your employee through problem solving, motivation, clarification of roles, goal setting, reinforcing performance and empowering your employee.