Employee Reviews

When was the last time you gave/received a 100% candid, no b/s, meaningful performance appraisal? If you are like most companies, the answer is not good. The fact is, most companies do not have a proper employee evaluation process in place. This is not good.

There is no "must do" system for employee reviews but here are some tips that should be in place:

• It should be 100% candid and honest. No sugar coating; no glad handing; no dodging; and not an ounce of anything fake.
• Clear and simple. Take out all bureaucracy. No more than 2 pages per person. The key components must include: What the person did right; What the person needs to do to improve.
• It should gauge people on important issues that you and the employee agreed to that directly relate to the employees performance.
• Once a year in a formal face-to-face organized and structured meeting.
• Should include future generations development. Managers get to know exactly where they stand and what the next steps are plus the employee should give a couple names of people that could replace them in the event of a promotion.

The system must be full of 100% integrity. Without integrity, it becomes just another wasteful bureaucratic exercise. The evaluation system should measure both quantitative results and qualitative behaviors. Both are very important for future success.

In the end, successful companies let the employees know where they stand and what is needed to move forward; and the employee appraisal process is the tool to get that done right.