For a manager, preparing for an annual performance review starts with the job description. Employee expectations should be clearly spelled out before the job even start and be sure to discuss these expectations and goals with them regularly. If expectations change (which they frequently do), the employee shouldn’t be the last to know, and feedback should be a continual process throughout the year. Employees deserve (and need) both positive & negative feedback on a regular basis in order to perform to your standards. Make sure your feedback is timely opposed to coming with a lengthy list of “should’ves, could’ves & would’ves” come year-end.
Keep a record of employee performance and behaviors throughout the entire year, because come year-end, there is no way for you to remember ALL the details of EVERY EMPLOYEE’s accomplishments and/or mistakes from the past 12 months. Don’t base a review on recent memory; it is just not fair, and that is exactly what you will do if you fail to keep proper records of your employees throughout the year. This can be easily accomplished by keeping a folder on each employee that includes everything from performance reports, a list of accomplishments and critiques, a summary of conversations, notes of good & bad behaviors that you encounter throughout the year, attendance records, and any goals & expectations you have. Be sure to update the employee folder as the performance or behavior is forefront in your mind and not just a summary based on memory at the end of the year.
In preparation for the review, solicit feedback from customers, co-workers, other managers, and even the employee themselves. Have employees that a self-assessment that you can review before the formal sit-down. This way you can prepare for things you may not have been aware of and have better insight into the employees’ expectations from the review before the conversation even happens.
In fact, I would even go so far as to share your notes with each of the employees before the review. No one wants to walk into an important conversation blindly, so the best way to prepare yourself is to prepare your employees. Share your notes ahead of time so you can both enter the formal review on the same page and make the most of your time together.
And finally, the last but most important tip I can offer to a manager at a performance review is to Listen. Listen. Listen! This is – and should be – a two-way conversation! As a manager, you are NOT a judge and your employee is NOT on trial. Make sure you are facilitating open dialogue and that you are ACTIVELY LISTENING and engaging in the conversation.
