Performance Reviews

Performance evaluations … or the dreaded employee performance review.

Management hates giving them … and employees hate getting them.

Is your approach working well for you and your employees? Are you using a standard form … or have you developed a specific format for your company or industry?

Keep It Simple

My focus for this blog is geared toward upper management. My goal is to keep it simple while making it manageable and worthwhile for all parties. Let’s try to get away from the antiquated routine of using something that has been forced on us, which no one seems to enjoy. I believe the best approach is to seek feedback and dialogue instead of grading performance … use it as a tool to measure performance and to help us move forward. In other words, try to generate discussion and dialogue about now and the future. Rather than a long drawn out document with boxes to check as a laborious project and process, let’s try to make it a worthwhile experience that informs and allows us to proceed from where we are now in a positive way, even if there’s bad news to be shared.

Performance and Potential

In today’s blog, I’m going to throw out a very simple straightforward approach that I believe boils things down quickly with a very basic approach.

Here it is … the two key areas for performance review are Performance and Potential. Take those two areas and rank then high, medium, low. Set up a simple graph type chart. Then rank each direct report as to whether their Performance is high, medium, or low. Then rank their Potential the same way. After doing your rankings in a thoughtful and analytical manner, then sit down and discuss your finding with each of your direct reports. Let them know where they stand today … how they are doing and what you feel their potential is with the company. The key for this to be successful is being forthright and honest. If there isn’t honesty and candor, it’s not worth doing.

In my next blog, I’m going to share four or five questions that can generate a dialogue to gain insight for both parties in the review process and eliminate that laborious form you’ve been using. Hope you will check back.

What are your thoughts on the Performance Review?

© Phil Hoffman 2014. All rights reserved