Tips to make your next performance appraisal powerful & effective

Following on from previous posts, I thought I would share why I believe annual performance reviews are useful. Human beings are hard wired in for reflection and goal setting – think about New Year’s Resolutions. They are the most common form of goal setting on the planet – and yet no one forces people to [...]

One of the most regular comments I have heard over the years is that annual performance reviews are just a waste of time. The reasons they give are that people hate doing them, they are just a crutch for poor managers to be seen to be doing something, there is no link to pay so [...]

During performance reviews it is easy to get caught up in trying to make your employee comfortable with your feedback and to reduce stress. Many managers do this by being less careful with their language than they should, which creates problems down the track. Here are some of the most common problems: Telling white lies [...]

If you have an employee who is not performing, it is easy to get to fall into all or nothing thinking – “they are a poor performer”. But before you leap into a blanket judgment here’s a few questions to ask yourself. 1. Did they fail on only one project? Not every project is a [...]

While popular literature tends to focus on employee’s nerves heading into review sessions, managers can also struggle at performance review time. Often highly charged with emotion the sessions can be extremely draining on all concerned. To prepare for the next employee performance review cycle, try some of these performance review tips: 1. Get ready to [...]

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 [...]

When a bad review for an employee is on the horizon, managers get tense. It’s perfectly understandable. No one likes to deliver bad news, yet as a manager it is a responsibility that can’t be shirked. Dealing with a bad review takes different tactics depending on the reason the review is going to be bad. [...]

One of the performance review tips that many managers choose to ignore is the rule to link job descriptions to employee performance reviews. It is ignored because it often takes a bit of effort and extra time. Everyone is pressed for time these days, but taking the time to improve the performance review template and [...]

The employee performance review process  is not all about the employee. Managers also need to have objectives when they go into the session, yet many managers fail to set clear objectives for the meeting. As a result, the conversation can be less than efficient. Managers without objectives they want to accomplish for the session can [...]

Despite having the best of intentions, both managers and employees often make mistakes during the employee performance review process. It’s an almost guaranteed occurrence. Everyone is so concerned about not messing up during the performance review that errors spring up at every turn. The most common employee performance review mistakes stem from a lack of [...]