The Dreaded Annual Ritual: Performance Evaluations

We all know the dreaded performance evaluation ritual. It is the joyful event once a year where the manager and employee sit down to talk about all the things they have done during the assessment period. Unfortunately, this is often the only time that employees get feedback from their leadership. This practice needs to change if you want to elevate your staff. Performance feedback should be a continuous practice, with something semi-formal at least quarterly.

One of the major downfalls of annual evaluations is that it relies on the supervisor’s memory of performance of the last twelve months. Without documentation, of both the good and bad behavior, the evaluations tend to only reflect the few months immediately prior to the evaluation. If your organization is set on the yearly evaluation plan, then small documentations throughout the year is a best practice.

Annual evaluations are ineffective without continual feedback. The feedback on the evaluations should never be a surprise to the employee. If they never get feedback, employees assume they are doing their job in an acceptable manner. If the evaluation says they were under-performing all year long, the employee will be shocked. The negative comments could affect their eligibility for future wage increases or even their continued employment. The employee deserves the opportunity to correct any deficient performances. This way the evaluation can include deficiencies and progress that was already being made, even if they are not yet up to the appropriate expectations.

For an organization really looking to step up their evaluation process, and maximize the overall impact, I would suggest looking into 360 reviews. These are continual evaluation metrics that not only allow the managers or supervisors to provide continuous feedback on their staff, but also for the staff to evaluation leadership. There is no one size fits all when it comes to managing employees. The 360 feedback allows a supervisor to understand how they can better manage the individual to bring out their best performance and address deficiencies.