HRD spoke to a leader at Aviva to learn the most reliable way to enhance the employee appraisal process
Regular performance reviews are four times more likely to keep your employees engaged, according to a Gallup study.
While some companies have done away with the big, year-end, annual performance appraisals, labelling them as outdated, HR must ensure that managers put in effort to check in with their team members weekly or monthly to keep staff motivated and on the right track.
Even if your organisation is still relying on the year-end review to help determine an employee’s next career step, managers must carry out regular coaching sessions throughout the year to avoid a stressful experience for either party during the big appraisal.
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How effective is your performance appraisal system?
And stressful is right – an Adobe study from 2017 found that 22% of employees admitted they have cried at least once after receiving a bad appraisal. Another 20% felt it was necessary to quit following a stressful review.
A more recent study by Gallup found that almost all (95%) managers are dissatisfied with the review process.
They also found that only 14% of employees strongly agreed that their performance reviews inspired them to improve. Traditional performance reviews and approaches to feedback are often so bad that they make performance worse about a third of the time, said Gallup.
However, if they’re done right and regularly, these “progress reviews” can produce impressive results.
According to Gallup, weekly feedback sessions result in team members who are:
- Five times more likely to say they receive meaningful feedback
- Three times more like to feel motivated to do outstanding work
- Almost three times more likely to be engaged at work
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The importance of giving constructive feedback
This is why Lee Nallalingham, Aviva’s tech and transformation lead, told HRD that, “if the manager has done their job right, the year-end performance review should be easy”.
“One of the key reasons most employees become frustrated at their year-end review is because their manager has not given them real time feedback throughout the year,” Lee said.
“This means an employee thinks they have been doing an amazing job, then they get a nasty shock when they are told all the reasons this is not the case.”
From experience, he believes the reason for the gap is because many managers find it hard to give constructive feedback.
“Most people are fundamentally nice, and so telling someone something isn’t working is not easy,” he said. “However, it is essential for a manager to do this immediately.
“Otherwise, small problems fester and eventually become huge problems. Likewise, it’s important the good work is also feedbacked in real-time as well.”
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Four steps to improve performance reviews
Although the year has passed, leaders can plan for a more effective performance management strategy that incorporates regular feedback sessions and a better framework to guide managers.
Lee shared some tips for leaders:
- Set effective goals at the start of the year
This can also be done for new hires to ensure they’re clear about what’s expected of them. Managers should sit with their team members and set specific and clear goals for them to deliver on, in addition to their ‘usual tasks’.
It’s also best to regularly track employees’ progress on the set goals, so that when the big appraisal season arrives, you can determine how much they’ve achieved and performed on the job.
- Discuss performance more than once a year
This goes without saying, but it’s important to talk about an employee’s progress at least once a quarter. Lee recommended that managers carry out the sessions at least monthly.
“By having regular check-ins with employees, you are able to better assess their performance and also coach them to improve performance,” he said. “It also allows for a much fairer assessment at the end of the year.”
- Don’t compare teammates
When assessing performance, only assess individual employees against their agreed-upon goals. Avoid marking down an employee who achieved their goals because another employee outperformed on theirs. This creates resentment within the team and unhealthy competition.
- Only focus on performance – avoid personal biases
The reality is that you may gel with some teammates more than others – it’s natural. However, managers should be reminded to stay objective and focus only on judging the employee’s progress at work.
A manager’s close relationship with a team member is irrelevant when it comes to their work performance. Bluntly said, “if they have not achieved their goals, they have not met expectations”.
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That said, considering their critical roles, managers should be guided on how to effectively coach and manage employee performance. While enabling accessibility is important, managers should also be reaching out to catch up with team members, even informally, and build trust as well as rapport over time. If anything, this would make for less awkward work performance review sessions.
“It’s amazing at how easy it is to have a constructive relationship between manager and employee if there is consistent dialogue,” Lee said. “Providing of course that neither party is blinkered with a fixed mindset.”
