How companies can leverage on performance review

NYASHA ZIWEWE

A Performance Review is an essential tool for leveraging talent, identifying needs and opportunities, and gathering intelligence for connecting workers to bigger company goals.

They also play a crucial part in employee empowerment by assisting them in realising their full potential.

Performance reviews, in other terms, are called performance appraisals or employee appraisals.

A periodical examination of an employee’s work performance and overall contribution to a fi rm is called a performance evaluation.

A performance assessment, also known as an annual review, assesses an employee’s abilities, accomplishments, growth, or lack thereof.

Companies utilise performance assessments to provide employees with general feedback on their work and justify salary raises, incentives, and termination choices. They can be done at any time, but

they are most commonly done annually, semi-annually, or quarterly.

Key points:

l A periodical examination of an employee’s job performance and contribution to the fi rm is known as a

performance evaluation.

l Companies use performance appraisals to discover which individuals have contributed the most to the

company’s growth, monitor progress, and recognise high-achieving personnel.

l While there are many distinct types of performance reviews, the top-down evaluation, in which a manager evaluates his or her direct report, is the most popular.

How Should Employees Prepare for Performance Reviews?

Employees should be encouraged to prepare for a performance evaluation, whether it is formal or informal. Here are a few ideas to share with employees to make the review successful for all parties.

Prepare notes — Before each performance assessment, encourage staff to take notes. They should write down the issues they wish to address and their strengths, shortcomings, and objectives.

Brainstorm examples — Employees should be ready to provide tangible instances of how they have met and improved on goals stated in the previous review.

Self-evaluate — Employees should give themselves a mock performance review to practice self-evaluation. New strengths, shortcomings, accomplishments, and goals should be identified.

Come with questions — Employees should be able to ask questions during performance reviews in a secure atmosphere. Preparing questions ahead of time can assist in guarantee that all of the

necessary questions are asked.

What Should You NOT Say in a Performance Review?

When providing a performance review, both the employee and the manager are required to take it seriously. However, because management is conducting the evaluation and has the authority to impact

the employee’s career significantly, they bear a large portion of the responsibility for keeping things polite and productive.

Criticism without an example — Instead of making an employee defensive, setting an example and offering suggestions for improvement will enhance their performance. Comparisons — This isn’t the place to rank staff or compare them to one another. Concentrate solely on the performance of the employee being evaluated.

False praise — While it’s essential to find something nice to say in every performance evaluation, false praise will only deceive an employee into thinking they’re doing better than they are, robbing them of the chance to develop.

Speculation — Sharing workplace rumours or increasing expectations for a raise or promotion that may or may not be attainable leads to unnecessary speculation and disappointment.

Repetitive commentary — Some things are worth repeating, but if you find yourself giving the same advice and delivering the same praise in every performance review, consider mixing it up. Perhaps the message isn’t coming over in the way you’re delivering it right now and needs to be discussed more. You may build off of recommendations and goals from each meeting rather than rehashing the same thing over and over if both managers and employees make notes of what is discussed in performance reviews.

“Always” and “never” — To every rule, there is an exception. Ultimatums and broad remarks are rarely accurate and can irritate people.

Managers and staff should make performance evaluations a priority. They ensure that everyone’s personal goals align with the company’s objectives and provide helpful feedback on how they can

develop. Th e entire fi rm benefits when performance reviews are prioritised.

Nyasha D Ziwewe is a Software Developer and Consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a

management and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4 481946-48/481950 or email: nyasha@

ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com

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