Conducting Great Performance Reviews

Performance reviews are one of the most effective ways to assess, motivate and engage your employees. Yet, if used incorrectly they can become meaningless, time-consuming and downright negative. The following article aims to highlight important considerations to help you ensure that your performance review process is efficient, fair and ultimately productive.

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WHAT ARE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS?

Performance reviews are a tool that helps you manage your team effectively and get the best from them. There are many benefits to holding regular, structured 1-2-1s with your team including:

Regular check on levels of performance
Identify areas for growth and improvement
Opportunity to address and areas of training needed
Opportunity to praise and reward
Ensures full and fair accountability
Inform suitable development plans

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CONDUCTING PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

If you’d like to start or improve on your performance review meetings here are our top tips:

PLAN REVIEW MEETINGS

Ensure employees have a firm date and time in the diary and you stick to it (ideally book this well in advance)
Provide employees with an agenda for the meeting a few days in advance
Ask them to prepare for the meeting, reporting back to you on their own performance against their KPIs, also providing feedback on key questions (see topics to cover below).
Ask them to send their preparation notes to you in writing at least 24 hours ahead of the meeting.
Ensure the review is carried out in a private environment where you will not be interrupted.

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HOW OFTEN AND HOW LONG?

Once a month is ideal for a formal 121 meeting (you will probably also have at least weekly less formal 121s)
Review meetings will vary in length but typically 1 to 2 hours – uninterrupted.

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TOPICS TO COVER

Review of performance against KPIs
Any particular areas the employee would like to cover in the meeting
How well the employee has performed and what has been achieved since the last meeting
How any achievements relate to their targets
Anything they have found difficult
Factors that have helped or hindered performance
What they have done to try and overcome any difficulties
What practical support, learning or development will help the employee
How the employee’s current role and longer career may be developed
Objectives for the next review and how they may be achieved

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WHAT TO DO AFTER A REVIEW MEETING?

Write up the notes of the meeting and provide the employee with a copy (keeping one for yourself). Bring this to the next review meeting
Ensure all required actions (by you and the employee) are activated on a ‘to do list’ or diary.

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SKILLS & TIPS FOR CONDUCTING PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Asking good questions: use both open and closed questions to encourage people to expand on their experiences, views or feelings
Focus attention on what is working well. Explore what happened, what the high point was and how they felt at the time
Discover their personal success code – what did they do to make the success happen? What did other people do and what enabled it?
Active listening – take in both what is being said and their body language
Constructive feedback – focus on evidence and actual examples, not subjective opinions. It is important to reinforce positives and strengths.

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WHEN CAN IT ALL GO WRONG?

If reviews aren’t frequent or consistent enough (once a month is recommended)
They focus on past performance with little attention paid to future performance, learning and development
Assessments are too subjective
Actions are not followed up
Feedback has only come from one source, not accounting for peers, customers or the actual individual.

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If you follow a regular performance review process with your team, you will quickly begin to reap the rewards. You’ll have a clear idea of what your team are achieving and where they need help. Reviews are also a great way to motivate and reward people as they feel accountable and valued.

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