Employee reviews are not only time consuming, they are also dreaded by the giver and the receiver. How can an employee review be truly useful with so much fear and loathing?

Saving your feedback for an annual review, reminds me of “Wait until your father comes home.” There is a better way.

Such companies as Goldman Sachs, IBM, Accenture, Adobe, GE, and Microsoft have revamped the employee review process. The annual performance appraisal may be going the way of the dinosaur.

The intent of the employee review is to help people improve job performance. With improved job performance, they make a bigger contribution to the success of the company. When they are aligned with the vision, mission and values of the company, employees are engaged. They see what they do matters. They are more likely to want to stay. It’s expensive to have a revolving door of employees who seek employment where they feel appreciated.

Seven steps to improve employee reviews:

1)      Have clarity about what an employee is expected to do to contribute to the success of the company.

2)      Create goals that are simple, measurable and important.

3)      Transform feedback to coaching regularly and frequently.

4)      Use a monthly to quarterly schedule to coach [a.k.a. give feedback] your team.

5)      Make it a two way conversation: “How can I help you?” and “What do you need from me?”

6)      Separate coaching and compensation.

7)      Develop a nonthreatening, feedback rich environment.

When you have frequent meetings with your team to provide coaching, you set up an environment of trust. With the purpose to support employees not to punish them, you improve communication which is the life blood of an organization.

Make frequent coaching with your team, a standard of excellence in your company. That’s what the experts are doing. 

© 2016 Ann Elliott All Rights Reserved