Six Ways to Deliver Performance Reviews More Effectively

At the end of the annual performance cycle, managers spend a large amount of time evaluating employees for the prior year's performance. Did they deliver on their commitments? Have they spent time trying to self-improve? Were they reliable? If you are new to management, you may see performance reviews as daunting and intimidating since delivering feedback can be uncomfortable. If you are a more seasoned management veteran, you've accepted that performance reviews are just part of the job. Regardless, performance reviews are among the most critical aspects of managing people because they help shape and align your organization to improve its overall strength. Here are six ways to make the next sit down with your employees more effective.Visit here performance appraisal

1. Block Out Your Calendar - With everything that goes on day-to-day, many managers carve out just a brief few minutes for performance reviews. Contrary to this behavior, deliberately block out an hour, if not more, to meet with your employees. Part of employee performance is directly linked to their engagement and overall job satisfaction. What kind of message are you sending your employee when you have to squeeze them in between other meetings, or when you reschedule three times? Indirectly, you're telling them they're not as important as the other things you're doing. Reviews have a 'pay it forward' impact - if the employee sees that you are investing your energy into them, they are far more likely to leave the meeting feeling valued and eager to do a better job in the next 12 months.

2. Be Prepared - Review your notes on the employees performance ahead of time. If your firm requires employees write self-evaluations, read them and highlight any comments you have. Have specific examples prepared for both the positive feedback and constructive feedback. It's important to use both - example of behavior you liked, and examples where an employee needs to improve. Concrete examples clearly show the individual what you are looking for. Similarly, don't walk into a review with an employee and ignore problems that clearly exist. Say what needs to be said.

3. Start with an Interview - While going into a performance review as the manager is not always enjoyable, it can be far more intimidating or uncomfortable for the employee. It's always best to start off informally to encourage a discussion. Once the conversation begins to shift to the actual performance appraisal, keep it light but honest. I often begin by asking the employee how they think their year went, and what they thought they did better than the prior year. What do they see as the highlights of their year? Getting the employee to engage early on in the discussion helps lay the foundation that the review is a conversation and not a lecture.

4. Share Your Vision - Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone wants to feel valued. Despite this, many employees walk away from their performance reviews with little or no change in inspiration or energy. "Same story as last year," they often say. One way to reach employees more effectively is to share your vision for their career and where you see them going. For example, if someone really enjoys crunching numbers, do you see them progressing to the role of a chief scientist or financial specialist? Do you see them taking on bigger projects, or becoming a manager of people someday? Expressing how you see his or her career advancing helps you curtail performance feedback and signifies to the employee that you have their career interests in mind. It also offers them something to hold on to throughout the year as they think about their career ambitions.

5. Make Eye Contact - Although it is a more mechanical part of conducting a performance review, making eye contact is crucial. All of the information and discussion you have with your employee is meaningless if the employee doesn't feel you are sincere. Eye contact shows honesty and trust to your high performers. It also sends a strong message to under-performers who will see you mean business.

6. Reinforce - The review of employees is not a once in a year activity. Rather, over the course of the year, reinforce your feedback through follow-up coaching meetings. Schedule monthly sessions with each of your employees to discuss issues or concerns. Highlight recent examples of good things they did. This approach helps gradually steer performance in the direction you need. If you only talk job performance once a year, how much improvement can you expect 12 months later? Reinforcement over the course of the year also makes next year's review easier since nothing discussed at that time should be of surprise to either party.

Performance reviews are one of the best investments managers can make into his or her employee's growth. Keep in mind that as awkward as employee evaluations can sometimes be, they should be approached in earnest. The best way to create an engaged workforce and a strong team is to manage the performance of the individuals. By managing with sincere and constructive feedback, you can align each employee's behavior and performance to the overall goals of the team and the business.