Performance Review templates
Performance review templates: Comparison reviews, Forced choice reviews, Standards based reviews and Competency based reviews
When selecting a performance review template, many small businesses are surprised at the number of choices available to them. There isn’t a single standard form for doing employee performance reviews. Rather, businesses are responsible for selecting the performance review template that best suits their needs for that particular performance year.
This post gives you a quick overview of the four major review templates available.
Comparison reviews: Comparison reviews look at the job descriptions and performance metrics and make a simple comparison. Did the employee meet the required standards? Comparison reviews also can mean looking at the broader market to ensure that wage levels and perks continue to be competitive in the marketplace.
Forced choice reviews: In a forced choice rating system, behaviors are listed to one side with a performance descriptor listed to the other side. Managers are forced to choose, for example, whether helpfulness was achieved at the poor, satisfactory or outstanding level in the past year. This metric is also called forced choice because there is no place for managers to put comments or their own interpretations onto the selections.
Standards based reviews: A standards based review looks at the targets for the position and whether or not those target standards were met and to what level they were met. Employees can be rated as a pass/fail or on a sliding scale. Comments and manager interpretations are welcome.
Competency based reviews: Competency based reviews are also known as behaviorally anchored reviews. A list of specific skills and behaviors is created for the job, and rated according to the importance of each competency to success in the role. Usually the top 3 -5 competencies for a role make it onto the review. Workers are subsequently evaluated based on their performance against the named competencies for the position.
In many cases it doesn’t matter the performance review template you select – the priority is the discussion you have and the shared understanding you reach. The template is merely the final paperwork to document your discussion, so don’t get hung up on using the “right” form.
For some free performance review templates visit www.heartharmony.com.au/free-performance-review-templates.php
Until next time
Ingrid Cliff
We put your business into words
Heart Harmony – Human Resource Management writer