Learn the Best Performance Review Tips for Managers

7 Performance Review Tips to Unleash Your Team’s Potential

Every company conducts employee performance reviews, whether they know it or not. Every time a manager praises a job well done or corrects an error or oversight, they are reviewing the employee’s performance. That’s certainly how it feels to the employee.

But too often, a structured and scheduled performance review feels like a final exam from school; a summary of how well – or poorly – an employee has done their job in the preceding period. It shouldn’t be this way. It should simply be a focused version of the routine interactions workers and managers have in the course of accomplishing the company’s goals.

Here are tips on how to use formal performance reviews to help every employee make their best contributions to the business, and how to leverage the process to improve the entire team.

Why are Performance Reviews Important?

Performance reviews are often treated like an administrative task separate from the work itself. While they are an administrative function, they are actually an opportunity to enhance the productivity, efficiency, and culture of the organization.

This simply requires intentionality in how the reviews are organized, conducted, and acted on. These elements include:  

  • Level-setting: Providing and obtaining feedback, perspective, and recognition
  • Path-mapping: Sharing goals and expectations, and translating those into individual action items
  • Route-clearing: Identifying operational gaps, and training and development needs
  • Super-charging: Cultivating employee morale and engagement

Facets of a Performance Review

Only one person knows everything the employee does every day, what challenges they face, and how they feel about their work product. That person is the employee. To get the most accurate and objective perspective, you actually need three performance review inputs from three different perspectives.

Managerial feedback:

This is most people’s idea of a performance review. And it is a critical perspective. An employee’s manager is best positioned to know how that person is performing relative to the company’s expectations, both in their work product and their work style.

The manager’s feedback will also be the most impactful in terms of motivating the employee and setting the tone for that employee’s relationship with their role and the company.

Self-evaluation:

Most modern performance review processes include a self-evaluation from the employee. This is important for several reasons:

  • Miscommunications or misunderstandings around required behaviors can only be identified by comparing what and how an employee sees their performance relative to outside perspectives.
  • The employee is best positioned to identify their barriers to achieving top performance.
  • By owning part of the review process, the employee has a stake in any corrections coming out of it and should feel empowered to make the necessary adjustments. 

360 review:

By (anonymously) soliciting colleagues’ perspective on the employee’s performance, both the employee and their manager can get a more well-rounded understanding of what’s working and what might need improvement. This is especially useful for an evaluation of “soft skills” like communication and attitude.

It’s important that this feedback comes from people who interact routinely with the employee on productive activities. This will direct any adjustments toward better business results, which is the whole point of the review.

Depending on the nature of the business, you will want to conduct reviews on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis.

Key Elements of a Succesful Performance Review

Regardless of how your performance reviews are structured, they should cover some basic territory:

  • Demonstrated understanding of the job
  • Technical skills
  • Past performance against goals
  • Interaction with managers(s) and teammates
  • Remedial actions (if any)
  • Future goals

In addition, having a section for the manager’s commitments to the employee on behalf of the company (as discussed below) can be a guide for improved business performance operationally as well as culturally.

7 Tips for an Effective Performance Review

Here’s how to get the most out of each performance review:

  1. Bring employees into the process early. Remind them of the review schedule and give them access to their portion of the forms with plenty of time to collect their thoughts and set them down in writing.

  2. Performance reviews should be transparent; nothing should come as a surprise. Managers should make it part of their job to routinely touch on aspects of work that will ultimately appear in the review, praising positive contributions and correcting issues as they arise.

  3. Think of the review as setting a baseline, not a historical record. Past performance should be raised as a way to confirm positive behaviors that should be carried forward or even enhanced, and isolate those behaviors that need to be adjusted or avoided.  
     
  4. Make it a two-way conversation. Give the employee a forum to share any challenges they’ve experienced that may prevent them from doing their best work or advancing in their career. This is where the company’s performance gets reviewed, so be prepared to actually address legitimate concerns.

  5. Use the SMART structure (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) in goal-setting. This has become the standard for skilled work in a professional environment because it is the most fair and actionable way to evaluate performance when reviews come around again.

  6. Address any feedback or open issues in a timely manner. As stated at the beginning, a performance review should just be one event in a regular cadence of feedback for constant improvement of the business. It’s the managers’ job to see that happens.

  7. Leverage technology and document everything. A solid Performance Management System will ensure you get every perspective you need while minimizing the administrative hassle involved. It also ensures you have a clear, well-organized record of these critical interactions for future reference.  

Turning Performance Reviews into Team Success

A performance review is neither the beginning nor the end of the process of continually improving your business’s overall performance. The review only examines previous experience to inform decisions about future employee responsibilities. Likewise, management should use the process to evaluate management practices and even management style moving forward.

To do this, executives owe it to themselves and their company to examine their employee reviews. They should look for patterns or recurring themes that suggest how they could better stage the organization to improve the quality of their products or services, where to find new efficiencies, and how best to manage employer expenses like recruitment and training.

But these actions are what turn the performance review process into a supercharger for the company’s business and culture. Employees see that they are not simply being judged by their managers. They see these reviews as the business looking at every part of its operations and taking steps to improve them.

If your company needs more skilled talent and the managers to bring out their best, discover Solvo business process outsourcing. We are a remarkable source of skilled talent, fully equipped and skillfully managed to perform a host of professional services. Learn more at https://solvoglobal.com/contact-us/ .

About Solvo:

Solvo drives business growth by connecting North American companies with exceptional remote workers and AI-powered tools. Our unique nearshoring model ensures efficient collaboration in the same time zone, reducing turnover, and driving cost efficiencies. With a focus on fostering a great work environment, Solvo is dedicated to attracting top talent, ensuring our partners never have to choose between cost and quality.

Unlock the
Power of Global
Talent Today

Unlock the Power of
Global Talent Today