Why its essential to rethink your performance review process
Love them or hate them, annual performance reviews have long been a staple of the Human Resources toolkit; they provide the basis for:
- Improving productivity
- Aligning goals
- Enhancing communication
- Identifying areas for development; and
- Showing employees that they are valued.
Performance reviews enable your managers to catch up with employees formally, and to find out how they are progressing in their roles. Yet, the whole premise of a performance review being an annual thing is so old school.
So, how can you build a performance review process that works for the business, as well as its employees?
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Simplify performance reviews
To get more out of your people, you need to pay attention to what inspires and motivates them, and facilitate ways for them to tell you.
To do this, you need to simplify performance reviews, and make them more intuitive. By paying more attention to the feedback, without having it confined to an onerous annual process, you can save time, money and resources; whilst keeping employees happier and more productive.
More frequent performance check-ins
While the concept of more frequent and informal performance reviews is not new, many businesses are clinging to old processes; even though they are increasingly frustrated by the outcomes and the lack of value they provide.
On the other hand, businesses that embrace more frequent formal performance reviews and instigate informal performance check-ins, provide opportunities for employees and managers to develop a trusting, honest relationship. With this comes high-quality feedback that’s regular, relevant and useful.
Making performance reviews a natural part of how you work allows employees to speak up when they’re struggling, or seek help earlier in the process.
As a rule, aim to:
- Meet with each of your staff members once every 90 days for formal feedback and priority-setting
- Complement formal reviews with regular check-ins on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to ensure everyone’s on track, and give guidance as necessary.
Whilst the frequency of performance reviews is important, the whole point of supplementing formal feedback with informal check-ins, is to provide guidance and inspiration. To work, these conversations need to be high-quality, valuable to both parties and developmental in nature.
So, to make sure these regular performance check-ins provide value, it’s essential to start training managers on how to coach and guide their employees.
Transform your performance review process
With Flare’s fully–integrated HRIS platform, you can transform the way you handle performance reviews. Using our platform, workplace advisory firm Employsure reimagined their quarterly performance management process to make it more dynamic. This employer of choice cut the entire process down from a full month’s work to two weeks; requiring just 15% of the former manpower to manage the whole process.
Flare could do the same for your business. Request a demo today to see how!
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Get started! Book your free demo today.
