The performance review remains a vital aspect of keeping your employees as productive as possible. They offer the valuable feedback necessary to help your team grow as technical professionals. Everyone, from your best performers to the merely average workers, benefits from the encouragement and direction offered during an annual review.
With the most productive group of employees in mind, here are a few ideas on conducting annual performance reviews. You and your managerial team put in the effort, so leverage these insights to get the most out of the employee review process.
Ensure the Formal Review Isn’t the First Time They Receive Feedback
While the annual performance review still warrants its place in the business world, meaningful employee feedback needs to happen throughout the year. Don’t let an annual review be the first time an employee receives feedback, especially criticism.
Frame Any Criticism in a Constructive Manner
Keeping the review process positive remains an essential part of maintaining employee morale. As such, be sure to offer any criticism to your employees in a constructive manner. The major focus needs to be professional development.
Reviews Are for Setting Goals and Tracking Their Progress
Make goals the main topic for the annual review. Verify the success towards achieving last year’s goals, while spending significant time formulating a new set for the upcoming year. Remember what we just said about employee professional development.
The Right Metrics Are Essential for Employee Evaluation
Ensure your company has the right system in place for tracking employee evaluation. Objective data simply adds more value to the annual review process. Hard numbers and metrics carry more weight than subjective opinions, especially when considering technical employees.
Prepare Individually For Each Performance Review
Each employee deserves a thoughtful review. Therefore, it is important to prepare properly for every performance review. Spending valuable time fumbling over data or shuffling paper simply gives the wrong impression, let alone wasting the opportunity to offer meaningful feedback.
Spend More Time on the Positive Aspects of the Review
While offering constructive criticism remains an important aspect of any performance review, more time needs to be spent accentuating the positive. Keeping employee morale as high as possible helps boost your company’s overall productivity. Make reviews something to look forward to.
When you need additional advice building a great team at your office, talk to the insightful group at Synerfac. As one of the top IT staffing agencies in Philadelphia, we maintain a list of great candidates able to meet your company’s needs. Schedule some time with us soon!