Employee evaluations are an opportunity to grow—as an individual, as an organization and as a team. Too often, we view this task as a chore and frequently put it off or make it a “check that box” kind of thing.
I suggest you step outside your regular employee evaluation box and look to stretch the process into something useful and meaningful to all parties.
Use clear performance measures to drive the conversation. Discuss training options for growth areas. Discuss sharing knowledge in areas of strengths.
Make it a two-way street—information flowing from employee to supervisor to organization and from organization to supervisor to employee.
Seize the moment of your employee evaluations and use it to grow and improve!
For example, most of us do employee evaluations annually. I encourage you not wait until the week (or day!) before doing an evaluation to think about your employee’s performance. Do this throughout the year, collecting information on performance measures and progress of your staff regularly.
Consider setting a mid-year mini review as a way to keep employee evaluations meaningful. I’ve found mid-year reviews helping in correcting negative behaviors early, before they become a larger problem.
A few tips…..
- Take performance notes throughout the year.
- Have clear goals.
- Be clear and direct.
- Make only the promises you can keep.
- Don’t compare one employee to another.
- Use a consistent time frame and guiding documents for all employee evaluations.
