While many companies have made the smart decision to pivot from traditional, annual reviews to frequent performance conversations, a key question remains: what should HR teams do after the performance evaluations? Specifically, Reflektive customers ask us how they can drive improved employee productivity, performance, and development after their reviews. This step-by-step guide covers the best ways to get more out of your performance appraisals.
- Canonize review program requirements and best practices
If you haven’t already, make sure your review requirements – including self-assessment, meeting with your manager, etc – are documented and always available to employees. Include a reviews “Best Practices” section in your documentation as well — check out this article for ideas!
- Send a pulse survey
There are so many learnings that HR teams can generate from the performance review experience! We recommend sending out a pulse survey that covers the performance appraisal process and follow-up. Include questions such as, “Was information in the performance conversation valuable to you?” and “Do you feel that your performance has changed?” Insights from the pulse survey will help you make continuous improvements that ultimately boost productivity.
- Hold a review post-mortem
Conduct focus groups – and use pulse survey insights – to learn what went well in this review cycle, and what can be improved. Once your data is gathered, schedule a post-mortem with your HR team to shape plans for future cycles. Reflektive customer HoganTaylor also discusses employee developmental needs during their post-mortems, and brings in their L&D expert to consult on new learning programs.
- Document and share changes for future review cycles
Once your HR team is aligned on the changes to be made for future cycles, document them and share them with employees. Let employees know when the next review cycle will be, the modifications you’re making, and why. This information can live on a wiki or intranet page, and should also be proactively shared with employees via email and all-staff meetings.
- Ensure goals and action items are up-to-date
As business needs evolve at your company, make sure that employees and managers are updating their goals and key projects. To ensure that direct reports are staying in-sync with organizational objectives, encourage weekly 1:1s and a strong company-wide communication plan.
- Reward high performance
Are employees knocking out high-priority deliverables left and right? Reward them! Whether employees are incentivized by food delivery or donations to their favorite charities, we also recommend sharing public recognition to build a culture of praise.
- Have managers follow-up on areas of improvement
Conversely, if an employee is struggling with their objectives or developmental plans, encourage managers to speak openly with them and engage in problem-solving together. Bosses can also drive the importance of accountability for achieving team success.
- Encourage employees to get feedback after every project
To drive continuous development, encourage employees to request feedback after major projects and milestones. By learning from teammates about what went well and where they can improve, employees will receive relevant (and timely!) insights that will help with future projects.
Looking to learn more reviews best practices? Schedule a consult with an expert.