WHY ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS AREN’T ENOUGH
It’s that time of the year when you have an annual meeting with a specific employee… you’re dreading it. And chances are, so is your employee.
Only 5% of managers are satisfied with annual performance reviews (The Washington Post)
90% of HR leaders say annual performance reviews don’t provide accurate results (The Washington Post)
Only 14% of employees are inspired by annual performance reviews (Forbes)
You can have an annual catchup that is specifically for discussing performance and setting goals for future performance – but that shouldn’t be where it ends.
Consistent feedback, reviews, and conversations with employees will reap so many more benefits than just a formal meeting once a year.
Here’s why:
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS won’t BENEFIT YOUR EMPLOYEE
If there are 365 days between each performance review, and those 365 days don’t consist of any catchups or more informal reviews… let’s face it – it won’t change anything.
In the best-case scenario, you’ll have your employee leave feeling a bit flustered and prompted to try and improve; but it won’t last long because they know you won’t be checking up with them about their progress until the next year.
It’ll end up just simply being a formality that you go through to tick it off the list rather than something you use to discuss valuable things and bring about results.
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS ARE too stressful FOR YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYEE
Your employee spends weeks thinking and stressing about the meeting, whilst you might spend weeks dreading the meeting if they’re not doing well.
Having a chat with an employee should never be that dramatic. You’re supposed to build a trusted relationship where employees yes, respect your authority as boss, but they know you have their best intention at heart. But this can’t be established by only having one meeting a year. It would probably be better to not have a meeting at all because, without consistency, these meetings cause unnecessary anxiety for the employee and unnecessary paperwork for the employer.
Not to mention, salary reviews may be tied into these meetings as well as promotions. This takes precedence over anything else you might discuss in the meeting. This means if the employee leaves with no pay rise or promotion, that’ll be the only thing they’ll dwell on afterwards and they’ll feel demotivated and disappointed in themselves.
The same thing goes for the employee you promote to a senior position with a nice £5,000 pay rise. If you start speaking about how they need to improve how they handle certain processes or that they need to be a better leader for their team, they’re probably not taking it in. What they are thinking about is how they’re going to celebrate this milestone.
Dramatic, annual meetings drown out change, regardless of how positive or negative they are.
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS ARE too formal
Yes, you’re the boss, but you’re not sovereign.
Performance reviews instantly feel like an uncomfortable environment for employees where they feel a clear divide between you and them. You’re there to call the shots, and they’re there to simply obey. What does this then lead to? You speaking and them listening.
Feedback should never be without conversation, but annual performance reviews leave little room for anything else. The goal for any conversation about an employee’s performance is for them to:
Feel comfortable participating
Express how they feel about their performance
Talk about areas they feel that they need help with
Be open about their career goals
And then it’s the goal for you to listen to all of this and see how you can be of support to that.
None of this will happen if you enter that meeting room with a bunch of paperwork, sitting on the opposite side of the table, talking through points that they’re just expected to listen to and nod.
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS can feel like an interrogation
If you’ve had a bone to pick with an employee – this is the perfect time to bring it up… or is it?
Annual performance reviews can easily turn into an interrogation of all the mistakes the employee has made throughout the year. So rather than the employee leaving feeling, yes, held accountable, but inspired to keep moving forward with a clear progression plan and support from their boss; they leave with a dark cloud over their head and low morale.
Constructive criticism should be timely. When you have a problem, say it as soon as possible. Why? Well, firstly if you don’t, they’ll be super annoyed and insecure about themselves if you pile it all on them months later. But secondly, you’re essentially contributing to their demise. Things will only get worse when someone is oblivious to what they’re doing wrong. This will only increase your frustration with that individual and decrease their trust in you. Employees want to feel like you have their back, not that you’re out for getting them fired.
This leads to the fact that annual performance reviews are not just about an employee’s mistakes, but about yours too. Ouch.
If you want your employees to take your feedback on board, you need to put your pride aside and be prepared to take theirs on too. Let your employees comment on how they feel about your performance as a manager and whether there’s anything you can do to support them/ the team better.
And just like how you should deliver constructive feedback in a timely manner, let your employees do the same by arranging more regular, informal meetings to talk about these things. So when the annual performance review comes around, you can focus on the important stuff.
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS won’t motivate your employees
Catchups of any sort, especially annual performance reviews should feel like a new start. You’ve discussed how the year has gone and how you can both work together to make the next year even better. Employees leave with defined goals, a deepened rapport with their manager, and determination to work hard and succeed.
Well, that’s the dream, but this is rarely a reality.
If your performance reviews look anything like what we’ve discussed in this article, motivation won’t be in the equation for your employees – in fact, it’ll be the complete opposite.
If you:
Give regular on-the-job feedback
Get to know your employees through team socials and general conversations in the office
It’ll set a solid foundation for motivating and beneficial annual performance reviews.
- Written by Oliver Howson
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