‘Tis the season! No…not the holiday season, the performance review season. Many of you are about to launch into the performance management process for your employees and the writing of the review is one of the most important tasks you can do as a manager. Below are some “Don’ts” to keep in mind as you write reviews for your employees.
• Don’t cut and paste from last year’s review. Tempting as it might be, something new MUST have happened and anyway the employee will know you took the easy way out.
• Don’t put any performance surprises in the review. When an employee reads their review for the year it should not be the first time they are told of poor performance.
• Don’t write cookie cutter phrases, similar examples of development opportunities or other commentary for your employees. Contrary to popular belief, employees do share the content of the review with their peers. No one will feel good about working for you.
• Don’t EVER leave a hard-copy of the finished review on your employees office chair or in their email without a heads-up and a scheduled time to discuss face to face or in person.
• Don’t do the review in a vacuum. Seek input from the individual employee, peers, co-workers, customers etc. in order to provide well rounded feedback.
• Don’t make the performance conversation a once a year event. Check in quarterly so you remain aligned on goals and progress to plan.
Please tell us your “Do’s” and we’ll publish them next week.
