Performance Reviews

Personal Style

Sometimes introverts view extroverts as loud or bossy. Extroverts can see introverts as aloof and unfriendly. Quiet individuals’ accomplishments can be overlooked. A more intuitive person may seem flighty to the more analytical type. But all of these people can be highly effective. A diverse workforce leads to greater creativity, new perspectives and innovative ideas, but only when each person’s style is accepted and valued.

Personal relationships

It’s hard to review a friend’s performance, or that of a person with whom you have had difficulty in the past. Particularly when managers have worked with their employees on the same level in the past (before they were promoted), old assumptions about people’s abilities and skills can abound.

Short-term memory

It is well known that when people evaluate others, they will base their review on more recent events. But you should be basing an annual review on an employee’s work performance over the entire past year.

Cultural and racial assumptions

It is hard to see in ourselves, but the truth is that most of us have preconceived perceptions about people in various groups. We may make assumptions based on race,ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, gender or age. Besides the inaccuracy of stereotyping, it is illegal if one bases employment decisions on these characteristics.

Group rating

Although it’s possible that all of your employees are excellent, it’s unlikely. Most employees perform satisfactorily, with a few standouts who do excellent or very poor work. Don’t let a fear of hurting people’s feelings or making them angry lead you to evaluate everyone the same.

Focus on results-based evaluations

Ideally, you should have objective, fact-based measures upon which you judge performance. Employees performing the same job function should be evaluated using the same measures.

Back it up

Throughout the year, keep track of your employees’ performance. You should meet regularly with them to discuss their projects and activities. Use written talking points at these sessions, and keep copies. While it may seem like a lot of paperwork, it helps you to look objectively at how much people have done and how well.

Look at the beginning of the folder

The same documentation techniques discussed above can also help you focus on the whole year. When it’s time to evaluate your employees, be sure to look back to the beginning of the performance cycle year. Keep in mind all they have done in the past year.

Educate yourself

Courses on managing conflict, understanding personality types, conducting performance reviews and other topics can teach you how to conduct performance reviews fairly. Human Resources' Learning and Development offers many courses that will help you in this area.

Drive on a two-way street

Performance reviews are often one-sided -- you tell the employee what you think of his or her work. But this process should be an exchange of information. Have your employees prepare a list of their accomplishments over the past year before you complete their performance review. You may be surprised at the number of projects you’ve forgotten about. Also give employees the chance to discuss issues of concern and how they view their performance. Reviews are an excellent opportunity to learn about procedural/organizational issues that impact the ability of some to accomplish their work.

Develop a scale

It’s easy to say, “This person always completes her work on time with few errors. She’s never late and gets along well with her coworkers.” The hard part is deciding what that means. Is this person a superior performer or is this expected behavior? Ask yourself, 'Would action need to be taken if this were not the case?’ A chronically late or sloppy worker is unsatisfactory. Depending on the job, if the same employee initiated a new procedure that saved time and money, she may have demonstrated superior performance or at expectation.

Know when to forget

You may have had personality clashes with this person or s/he may have been a poor performer in the past. That’s not the issue now. A person can improve performance, and personality differences don’t mean the employee isn’t getting along with others. Use objective criteria to help you evalute the employee fairly.