How to conduct an effective annual review?

When 30 minutes is all you have, to discuss an entire year’s worth of work, you can only cover a very limited number of defining moments. And even within those limited number of topics, certain topics can dominate the entire 30-minute window. Which is why it’s a good idea to include reviews from co-workers in the performance review process. This helps authenticate the employee’s report and potentially help cover more ground during the review process. Affinity-Based reviews in the Profit.co software allow you to do just that, with the option to add in peers to a performance review so that HR can get a 360-degree view of an employee’s performance.

It’s bad enough that a performance review can be stressful and awkward. Add rankings and competitive scores to make it worse. By getting rid of the ranking process based on a standardized template, you can focus more on the individual — his/her strengths and weaknesses and their potential to grow, which, in turn, builds trust and camaraderie amongst employees. If you do require a quantitative measurement of employee performance, the Profit.co software calculates the Profit Score for employee assessments. This score is determined by calculating an employee’s reporting promptness, personal achievement of OKRs, team achievement of OKRs, and the progress of aligned OKRs. This takes into consideration many facets of an employee’s experience, and also offers a quantifiable score to help contextualize employee performance in the scheme of the company and team members.

Put an end to the classic annual review process that doesn’t quite fit in with the way organizations function these days. Instead, make room for meaningful, regular dialogue between management and employees for a more open, ‘at ease’, and productive work environment.

Profit.co’s Check-ins allows managers to consistently be informed of employee progress. This means that when employees and managers do sit down to have a conversation, very little time needs to be spent going back and forth on what was completed. Instead, meetings can begin with a discussion on what is working, where an employee needs more support, and what roadblocks stand in between an employee and their goal.

Employees prefer frequent feedback over a detailed review that happens once a year. Frequent, informal interaction with the management makes the employee feel less stressed and more responsive to feedback. And has a positive vibe overall.

One-on-one feedback has many purposes. Profit’s Performance management solution enables employees to carry out self-assessments and managers to conduct 1 on 1 employee reviews. Both self-assessments and 1 on 1 manager-employee reviews are based on competencies & graphic rating scales. Employees and managers can provide comments and use the interactive Graphic rating scale (GRS) to rate against competencies identified for each job title. While it lets employees know that they’re being held accountable for their work, it also provides the opportunity for them to ask questions and feel seen and understood by their manager.

Performance Reviews in Profit.co allow for this direct feedback, and employees and managers can thoughtfully consider all aspects of an employee’s experience at a company before meeting in person and discussing.

Performance evaluation is no longer just an annual affair. As the name suggests, it is a year-round, ongoing process where managers converse with employees, exchange feedback and award recognition to contributions of employees. So it’s one that you need to be prepared for and plan well ahead of time. Be clear on what the review process must entail, and how to conduct it. This will help you give detailed and informed feedback.

Profit Score in the Profit.co software takes into account all the different components of an employee’s review– from the frequency of check-ins to their self-assessment. This emphasizes that their review is not about a fixed point in the quarter or year– it takes into consideration all employee performance, and encourages employees to give their full effort throughout the entirety of the quarter.

At the beginning of the year, set goals for the team and discuss it with them so that everybody is on the same page. Each member of the team must know what is expected of them and what their individual goals are. They need to realize that while they all have individual goals to achieve, it all leads to the development of the team, and the organization as a whole.

Hold periodic ‘catch up’ meetings with the members of the team. This helps all team members to never lose sight of the goal/s. Whether you choose to have them every month, or quarterly, schedule these meetings at the beginning of the year into your calendars.

OKRs allow for total team coordination. Traditionally, OKRs at the department or team level will follow a quarterly cycle. Once a manager or department head defines an OKR for a team, key results can be assigned to certain employees, and the step-by-step process of how a team will go from zero progress to the achievement of an aspirational goal becomes clearer. Progress is monitored with weekly check-ins, which remind employees where their priorities should lie.

Jason Lauritsen, a human resources thought leader, developed the 4×4 performance management process. Instead of annual reviews, 4×4s require quarterly reviews.

The 4×4 performance management process also focuses on four defined questions.

• What are your most significant accomplishments since we last met?
• What are the most important things you will focus on before we meet next?
• What obstacles are you encountering right now?
• What can I do better or differently as your manager to support you?

These questions also help recap the previous meeting and set the stage for the next, and ensures every team member stays on track.

Discussions during these meetings must be a conversation, and not a ‘lecture’. Set a pre-meeting before the day of the actual review. Encourage each employee to share their thoughts, a self-evaluation, a summary of their key job responsibilities, current project work, and a recap of goals and achievements. These go a long way in being prepared for the review and makes it less daunting.

The meeting must yield some key takeaways. There needs to be a clearly defined, achievable action plan and a to-do list for every member of the team. There should be no room for ambiguity when it comes to defining the role and responsibilities for each team member.

Annual reviews can be made to work – There’s never a one size fits all. Each organization is different. Every organization has its own culture, personality, challenges, and business requirements that need to be met. These determine what the performance review process should be like – as long as the review process fosters a work culture that motivates employees to achieve their potential. For when it’s done well, it benefits the manager, the employee and the organization as a whole.

Profit.co’s comprehensive software supports a highly customizable Performance Management module , which allows you to tailor performance review to your specific needs. Profit.co provides a multi-step review process that allows an employee to fully express their experience and progress in the workplace as well as get input from peers and their manager, you can gain a 360-degree view of all facets of an employee’s work-life and turn your dreaded annual performance reviews into a useful, effective, and informative conversation.