Employee reviews. When they’re good, they’re great. But when they’re bad, they can be hazardous to culture, employee engagement, and ultimately profitability. While there’s no single recipe that makes employee reviews successful, small companies have a lot of flexibility to ensure employees get what they need from their employer – small and agile are our competitive tools for employee success. We should put them to use.
As you’re digging into your second quarter and, perhaps, are coming fresh out of your quarterly employee reviews, here are a few ideas to brew on for the next round.
Early and often
Check in with employees more than once a year. Try quarterly. Then, schedule time to touch base with every individual in your sphere of influence at least once a month. Informal as it may be, it keeps conversations and objectives flowing between bigger review events.
Use your firm’s strengths
Many of our customers count designers and product folk in their ranks. Those are great strengths to use in the design of a better employee experience. Just like the products and services we build and sell, the service we provide our own employees can be designed, measured, and improved upon.
Use the time wisely
Prepare for your reviews in advance. With just a few minutes of prep work preparing notes, doing ad hoc coworker interviews, and setting objectives for the meeting, you’ll not only create a better review, but you’ll send the message that employee reviews are productive and valuable.
Zoom up and beyond the employee
Reviews aren’t just about the employee. It’s important to get feedback on, and work to improve, the manager and the workplace as well. Set objectives for all three, and clear the road for constructive employee feedback on improving them.
Focus on objectives
Objectives and good job descriptions – one and the same? If you and your team members have a hard time creating objectives, you might take a page out of the book Hire With Your Head. Rethink the way you write job descriptions by making them more objective-focused, and employees will have an easier time aligning objectives to their daily jobs.
Get comfortable with the truth
The truth can be a hard gift to give. How well do you and your employees do in sharing real, actionable feedback? Jen Dary from Plucky, has some really good advice on getting comfortable with transparent, honest feedback.
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Remember: our number one job as employers is to ensure our employees are set up to succeed. Creating an effective, flowing practice of communication within your company is critical to accomplishing that. It takes practice and discipline, but when employee reviews serve a real purpose, they yield real results and become an indispensable tool in building a great workplace.