MightyRecruiterEmployee performance reviews can be incredibly beneficial to a company, yet many employers avoid doing them at all. The reason is often that it can be uncomfortable for both parties. The employer has to find things to criticize about the employee while the worker has to hear all these shortcomings. Even great employees who do great work will sometimes dread the meeting because they know something will be brought up that could be improved. However, it is important to address areas that can be enhanced so that employee output gets better. Scheduling these meetings once every six months or once a year is recommended so that you can frequently address problems that could use a little touching up.
Isolate Your Best and Worst Employees
As you are scheduling meetings, you need to decide who your top performers are and who your weakest ones are. Your hardest working and most engaged employees represent the future of your company, and you can build employee loyalty by investing in them heavily. They also represent the qualities you will look for in new hires. Part of conducting employee performance reviews entails meeting with people who are not performing adequately. Even if you thought someone would be good during an interview, that does not always correlate to actual results once they start working for you. Part of their reviews may involve telling them how they need to improve or giving them different responsibilities that better match their skillset. The time for reviews may also be the time to decide whether it is in everyone’s best interest to simply let someone go.
Give Every Meeting a Purpose
Even if you are meeting with an employee who is doing exceptional work, you still need to meet with them. There may not be a lot you have to criticize, but you can use this time in order to state where you hope to see the employee grow in the future. You may say that you want a worker to take on additional responsibilities, and in another six months when the next review takes place, you can see if the employee succeeded in this endeavor. All employee performance reviews need to have a general theme so that you are not meandering, and your workers know what is expected of them going forward.
Allow Your Employees to Give Their Opinions
These reviews should not be a one-way street. While you should certainly state what you think the employee should do in the future, this is also a chance for a worker to meet with his or her superior and state where he or she wants to go. Perhaps there is a responsibility in your organization that one of your subordinates wants to take on. These reviews are opportunities for your workers to state their case regarding why they believe they are qualified for more duties, and potentially, deserve a higher salary. Depending on where a particular employee falls on your spectrum of best to worst, you can decide whether you want to give them a shot at more responsibilities.
Reward Appropriately
Employee performance reviews are also generally a time when employers decide whether to give employees a raise or not. It is crucial that you give out rewards based on the performance of the individual employee. For example, giving a five percent increase across the board is not the best course of action because your best employees will see that they are being rewarded as much as their inferior counterparts. Conversely, your worst employees will think they can continue not doing their best because they get awarded all the same. Your best workers should be rewarded appropriately while your underperforming workers should get little or no salary increase.
Document Everything
You need to document every meeting to ensure that every single person get a review. You do not want one of your employees sneaking through the cracks and getting out of this essential process. More than likely, you will need someone from human resources to sit in on the meeting to ensure everything is written down, and at the end of the review, have your employee sign the paper. This is particularly important when you have employees who need to improve their performances drastically or else serious action will be taken. Having them sign a document will be beneficial in the future when you need to decide whether to keep someone. By being objective and thorough, both you and your employees will come out of the reviews much better. These employee performance reviews will ensure you retain the best employees who put out the best work. If you are looking for more ways to grow your business, then check out what else Mighty Recruiter has available.