A performance review is an important communication tool that serves the best interests of both employer and employee. It ensures that the supervisor and the staff are clear on job expectations. It provides legal, ethical, and visible evidence that employees are actively involved in understanding the requirements of their jobs and performances.
A professional performance review can help to create a corporate culture, develop a performance improvement plan, identify the best employees for promotions, track performances, and it can give employees the assurance that their contributions are valued by upper management.
A useful performance review is the end result of the previous 12 months of goal-setting, feedback, and documentation. It emphasizes the positives. It focuses on future goals and expectations and encourages employees to go above and beyond. It consists of 2-way communication and it focuses on behavior – not personality. During a review it is helpful to answer employee questions honestly. Refrain from using words like, “hopefully”, “maybe”, and “Possibly”. Don’t talk about development plans you can’t deliver. Don’t argue, don’t compare one employee’s performance to another’s, and remember that it is taboo to mix salary issues with performance discussion. Schedule a separate meeting for this.