Deliver Robust, Interactive Annual Reviews Your Team Craves
Annual reviews. Who likes giving them? Who enjoys receiving them? The response to these questions is typically a resounding “not me,” so why does it matter that we do annual reviews?
It matters because high performers crave feedback and medium to struggling performers benefit from receiving actionable direction on how to improve.
I always longed for more feedback from my employers. I wanted the winning combo of on-the-spot feedback, project completion feedback, and annual reviews. It never hit me how critical annual reviews were to individuals until employees who once received content and dialogue rich annual reviews, no longer got them, and would share how disappointed and directionless this lack of feedback made them feel.
If you struggle with the how-tos of providing annual reviews, focus on the basics, and you’ll be a pro at delivering employee feedback in no time.
1. The Timing
There is no magic time of year to give annual reviews. Budget the time in your schedule, and know that from information gathering to preparation and delivery, you are likely talking about a month-long process.
2. The Reviewer
Who provides the review is an important decision. Certainly, the reviewer requires seniority to the employee receiving the evaluation. A talented reviewer has a flair for communication and interpersonal interactions, who can balance objective and candid feedback with respectful delivery. The reviewer doesn’t have to be the immediate supervisor; it could be the employee’s mentor, the CEO, COO, or HR Manager. The gathering of performance data will be more robust if it comes from several individuals who work closely with the employee. Collect their thoughts in advance via a peer review form, which complements the performance witnessed by the reviewer.
3. The Form
Annual reviews involve written documentation not only to follow HR protocol, but also so the employee can review a printed copy after the discussion, and the document can be referred to throughout the year and for comparison at the following year’s annual review. In addition to the peer review forms, you should incorporate a self-review form, so you can gauge how the employee sees himself.
4. The Interaction
Where most annual reviews fall flat is how one-sided they are. Envision an annual review more like a mentoring meeting where you are asking the employee open-ended questions, including discussion about employee generated topics, and providing concrete examples of behavior you’d like to see continued and improved. If you can crack the code on how to loosen up the employee, encourage two-way dialogue, and reassure them that annual reviews are one method your organization uses to make sure your team succeeds, you might not have employees looking forward to their review beforehand, but they will undoubtedly come to appreciate their value a day or two later.
5. The Compensation
Often employees enter annual review meetings only listening for two pieces of information: what they did wrong, and whether they are getting a raise. When you remove the compensation discussion from the performance review and encourage a two-way dialogue, you both receive more actionable takeaways from the interaction. On a separate day, compensation can be a shorter, annual communication with each employee as part of your organization’s annual budget planning.
Human capital is one of your most valuable assets. Hiring the right talent, selecting the ideal organizational location in which each person can flourish, growing and mentoring team members, and offering them specific, objective feedback on an annual basis is the best way to protect your assets and demonstrate you care about your work family.
Note: This is Part III of a three-month Feedback series. Read Part I: Feedback: Your Employees are Hungry for it and Part II: Pause for a ‘Lessons Learned’ Meeting After Completing a Project.
