It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year! Performance Appraisals!!!
“waits for the collective cheer*
Well… this is a little awkward. I guess we might be on our own with excitement for performance appraisals. But hear us out before you rule out performance appraisals for your team!
The Benefits of Performance Appraisals
When done correctly, performance appraisals have proven to:
- improve employee performance
- increase employee engagement
- clarify expectations
- determine training or coaching needs
- allow for improved conversations between employees and supervisors
With all those benefits, it’s mind-boggling that more employers are not leaning into performance appraisals. However, to receive these benefits, it is important to structure your appraisal process based on your company goals, vision, and values.
The Correct Performance Appraisal Process (For Your Business)
Now that you are convinced of the benefits let’s talk about your options! There are Traditional Performance Appraisals, 360-Degree Reviews, Self-Appraisals, Employee-Initiated Reviews, Group Performance Appraisals, Upward Appraisals, and more. Hopefully, we haven’t lost you! There is no one size fits all solution for performance appraisals.
At Innereactive, we wanted something that was less formal, more frequent, and ensured employees were living by our values. We landed on monthly appraisals where we focus on one value each month and three to five supporting questions that allow for deeper exploration of employee satisfaction and career development.
What to Discuss During a Performance Appraisal
Career growth. Career growth. And… what was the last one… oh yeah… career growth. We’re only half kidding. If you were to ask your employees what they wanted from you as an employer (and this is something we highly recommend you do), it would probably be a conversation around career growth and development. According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Workforce Learning Report, 94% of employees say that they would stay with an employer for longer, if they invested in their career development. So if you are not using your performance appraisals as an opportunity to discuss career development, it is a missed opportunity.
Tips for Discussing Career Growth
When discussing career growth and development with employees, it is important to understand and care about each employee’s career growth dreams and expectations. However, it is even more important to keep the growth ownership with each employee. As a manager, it is not your responsibility to push each employee toward career growth. It is your responsibility to:
- provide opportunities for growth to each employee
- promote from within when possible
- prioritize employee learning and development
- take a personal interest in your employees
The last one is a must for this process to be successful and employees will know if you are faking it.
If you need help getting started, our team of dedicated marketing strategists is here to offer consulting services to discuss the challenges you anticipate facing and explore the solutions you can implement to have a successful performance appraisal process. Our goal would be that every employee and employer shares in a collective cheer when it is performance appraisal season!