Employee evaluation meetings are considered as a difficult task for both the employees and the managers because it is tedious. But this doesn’t mean it has be dull all the time. It can be improved.
Disregard The Old Fashioned Style of Performance Review
Perhaps the most important thing is that you should not be following the ‘tried and tested’ way of executing employee evaluation. It is actually not tried and tested. We can say that it is tried many times and for that reason alone it got its place.
Humans evolve and its high time that outdated employee evaluation procedure should be transcended into a better one too.
How? Follow below:
1. Know What the Company’s Agenda Is and Plan According to It
Planning is the single most significant trait of successful managers. For carrying out a successful performance review meeting, you need to be prepared.
Analyze the data of each employee and prepare your questions. Moreover, plan on how you can take their strengths and weaknesses to maximize the company’s productivity and serve the current agenda. List some actions for you and for the employees on how to accomplish this (more on this later).
2. Focus on Future Goals Than Just Discussing the Past
Honestly, no one likes to be judged and most of the employees get into fight or flight mode when it happens – which, of course, isn’t positive for the company. So, the first things to do here is to collaborate with the employee to set future goals based on his/her past performance. This makes it a productive, two-way meeting than a monotonous one-way lecture.
3. For The Review of Past Performance, Keep It Simple
What we mean by keeping it simple is that don’t overcomplicate with pages or paragraphs of review on the employee. Instead, use five-point scales and ‘yes’ & ‘no’ questions to make the review simple yet definitive.
4. Make It More Frequent
As mentioned before, employee evaluation meetings are tedious. That is because the procedure is outdated, and they are once in a year (as something less common becomes way more important than it is and hence causes nervousness). So, if these meetings are frequent and more collaborative, then the employees would not be frightened and defensive while discussing their ideas, which an employee evaluation should be – the discussion of ideas. But usually, the past performance is of prime focus of the meeting, so there is no positivity in the room.
5. End The Meeting By Making Seamless Recommendations
To perform a successful employee evaluation meeting, an important part is to end it in a fashion that it doesn’t end. Confused? People forget things and most employees see these meetings as a stressful meetup with the manager. They do it unwillingly and then try to forget it as soon as they leave the cabin.
However, if the above points are followed and the meeting is ended with positive and realistic recommendations, the employee will be carrying the company’s agenda while leaving the room.
