Every company has its system of reviewing the work of its employees and giving them a reality check by assessing their performance. This is one of the most dreadful times in an employee’s life, to wait for this day till their turn finally comes. After all, all their efforts shall be pulled up and analysed. These reviews can also be a leading cause for appraisals or even restrictions.
What is a Formal Performance Review?
Management examines an employee’s job performance, based on employee evaluation criteria that recognises strengths and flaws, provide comments, and set targets for future performance during a performance review, which is a formal evaluation. It is a systematic, controlled employee evaluation criteria and process where management and other essential stakeholders examine a worker’s productivity through 360-degree reviews. The objective is to get a deeper insight into their strengths and limitations, provide helpful criticism for future skill improvement, and support goal planning.
There might be multiple formal reviews that an employee sees over some time. This can be daily or even project-wise, where their superior analyses their work or the project they have submitted. Such annual reviews help them understand the scope of improvement and what they need to work on before the employee performance review. Positive reviews are known as performance appraisals. A modern performance review is essential to ensure continuous growth of the employees and fulfilment of organisational goals.
Importance of Performance Reviews
Annual reviews helps the company establish a base working standard that others or prospects must look up to. They evaluate others based on the quality of work their company does and the types of services it offers through direct reports and performance discussions. Here is why formal one-on-one performance review meetings are essential –
- It Helps to Set a Proper Workflow
The company has many targets and goals to meet. To meet these goals, each employee must pull out their best job performance. At the same time, if employees are made to work with a strict structure, it might get complicated. During a formal performance review, the management can understand the individual performance of the employees, their flaws and their quality. Modern performance reviews help them to determine who is best for which job. Accordingly, work must be assigned to meet the higher objective: the company’s success.
- Establishing the Job Roles
Many employees are often confused about their job description and position in the firm. They are not sure about their responsibilities. While in a formal one-on-one performance rating discussion, it is the best time to clear that out. Here, the management clearly states each employee’s goals and work schedule until the following review is scheduled. Regular performance review meetings help the employee clearly understand employer expectations for employees.
- Improves Communication
When employees get regular feedback on their work, it helps them better understand what’s lacking in them. This helps to improve communication through frequent conversations. They can also understand what steps they must take to make their work better and foolproof. At the same time, any project or work-related concerns can be brought out to the management, which further helps improve the work’s quality.
- Rewards and Improvement in Performance
Reviews help to analyse the plus points and what’s lacking in the employees; the management can thus suggest relevant programs and courses to upskill the individual employees. The annual performance review provides the chance to plan and set goals to further a worker’s career.
At the same time, these reviews can be the best place to reward and keep people motivated. In addition to money, performance management gives incentives and time off as other ways to express appreciation for a well-done job. The possibility of receiving a performance evaluation that goes above and beyond “exceeds expectations” and recognizes your efforts is a motivator to work hard and may pave the way for future career improvements.
How Does a Formal One-on-one Performance Review Benefit an Organisation?
If you run an organisation, a formal one-on-one performance review must be conducted once in a while. This review system can significantly help the smooth functioning of the company. Here is how the company is benefited from this –
A. Helps the Company Understand the Value of Its Employees
When there are a lot of people working in the company, how is it possible to determine the value of each? This is what makes formal performance reviews essential for the recognition of every employee. During this session, the management closely evaluates projects completed and work done by employees along different strata of the organisation. Different companies have their own way of evaluating and rating employees for their good or poor performance. A few of the methods are-
- A rating system: In the system, the company gives numbers or stars to each employee or team’s performance. The system not only helps the employee understand their progress from the last time but also understand where their peers stand. This is an opportunity to understand where they are lacking and do work on the same.
- Rewards and gifts: Many offices promote the performance review system as a healthy competition. They give out gifts and rewards to employees at the top during this time. Some famous categories involve an employee of the month, the most improved employee, an employee who closed maximum clients, etc.
B. Make the Working Culture Fairer
There are many events where the seniors often take away the credit for the juniors. Thus, people are not happy with the kind of treatment they receive. An employee performance review is a game-changer here. When there is a one-on-one session with the management, the employees can openly discuss their work and get praised for the same. This makes employees feel that they, too, have a voice and a purpose in the company. It makes them feel heard and motivated.
If this performance review system is missing, their contributions often go unrecognised. This structure helps to break the boss and provide an equal working opportunity to all the employees, irrespective of their position, caste, or gender.
C. Helps the Company Be Transparent in Front of Its Employees
When a company is transparent in terms of its goals, current position in the market, and what they aim to acquire, the employees feel involved in the company. This makes them feel that they, too, are an integral part of the company and that their presence, too, makes a difference. It also helps establish the social values of the company in front of the employee. Thus, the employee feels more motivated and encouraged to put their best foot forward and work harder for the success of the company and improve the overall organisational performance.
D. Improving the Skills of the People
During a performance review, the management identifies and points out the performance issues and loopholes of the employees through the assessment of skills. They help them self-evaluate their problems, however small they may be. Such negative and direct feedback or criticism, if taken in a positive way, can greatly improve the mindset of the employee. Further, the management suggests ways in which they can improve on the same. For instance, for a person who lacks time management, the following means can be suggested –
- Make a fixed timetable and follow it truly.
- Always list out your deliverables before beginning the day.
- Categorise the work based on priority and urgency to determine what work to complete and when.
Companies can also provide adequate training courses and exercises to help the employee stand up on their feet. Performance reviews with 360-degree feedback help in the holistic development of the employee, where they completely evaluate the individual. This helps the employee to do much better in the later stages of their lives.
E. Meeting the Business Goals of the Company Faster
Surely not every individual is the same. For five people working as graphic designers in the team, some might be good at realistic images while some might be marvellous with caricatures. Giving the right person the correct task is extremely important. Imagine how long it would take to get the ideal graphics from these two designers if their niche was reversed. Here, not only is it a time-sensitive subject, even the quality of the product can be hampered. This decreases the overall output of the company.
However, at the same time, if the designer is offered to work within their niche, they can deliver more products with better quality. This is why having a performance review is necessary. It helps enhance the quality of the product by assigning the right work. Further, employees can be suggested courses to gain expertise in their niche and area of work. This shall help them enhance their skills and sharpen their talent to help scale the company.
Conclusion
Formal one-on-one performance review plays a major role for both parties, that is, the organisation and the employees. It helps to identify the employee’s strengths based on which the company can assign them to work and their weaknesses that need to be improved. The management also helps them understand ways to improve and overcome their weaknesses with tips, courses, and seminars. This helps in the holistic development of the employee.
During this meeting, the employee is also informed about the whereabouts of the company, its future goals, and the roles and responsibilities they need to take to contribute to this success.
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