Your staff are the backbone of your business, and their success is going to help your business succeed. An important, but often-overlooked part of this is holding regular performance reviews.
Rather than being an administrative drag, or something that you or your staff members dread, performance reviews can be a really valuable and constructive process. They can enhance your relationships with employees and the performance of your organisation.
Here’s what you need to know:
They need to happen on a schedule
Whether they are every year, every six months or even every three months, it’s important to set a schedule and stick to it. If it comes to the day and your employee finds that their meeting with you has been bumped due to a ‘more important’ commitment, this can send a very clear message to them about how much you value their contribution. Instead, make sure you both know when these meetings are happening. This will also give both parties time to really consider what you want to discuss. Turn up prepared and ready for a two-way conversation.
Prepare for the meeting
Whether you’re having a tough conversation or giving praise, go in with specific examples, and chat with other senior team members to get their supporting feedback. It’s important that you pay special attention to anything that isn’t borne out by the experience of other staff members. This is a valuable opportunity to examine any biases that you might be holding. A tough process, but a necessary one for any manager.
Create the right environment
Put some thought into the environment you want to create. If you have a strong relationship with your employee and you’re looking forward to another constructive conversation, perhaps this is a chat that can happen over an off-site coffee. If this is a more serious check-in chat, make sure you’ve got a private meeting room where you can both talk candidly without worrying about anyone listening in.
Keep a record
Working with an employee over time can be a wonderful thing for your business. It’s really important that you have records which reflects the progress that they have made and the ways in which you have been able to support them. It’s essential to take notes during each meeting and record these notes in a way that you’ll easily be able to access later. This also gives you a reference for what you need to follow up, such as whether you’ve discussed a schedule for a pay increase, professional development opportunities or additions to the employee’s role.
A good manager of people will never let the performance review be the place where the employee hears about issues for the first time. These should be talked about and resolved as they arise. And so too should praise! Recognising achievements as they happen is empowering for people and will bring a strong sense of loyalty and fit within the organisation.
We’re committed to your business success and helping you to empower your staff for their wellbeing and success in their role. Why not consider some personal and/or business coaching with us.
Contact us for a free and no obligation chat to see if coaching is a good next step for you.
