Page 166 - Becoming a Successful Manager

Conducting Meaningful Performance Reviews 157

Everyone Wins

Adhering to the aforementioned six steps will make discussions
of performance meaningful to your staff and to you. In fact, how
well you conduct your reviews with your employees may be one
of the skills on which you are evaluated during your own reviews.
Thus, applying these steps can contribute to a positive report on
your performance review while you are helping your employees
improve. With this process, everyone wins.
Conducting an effective performance review is not only good
business but also the right thing to do. Your employees deserve to
know how you rate their progress, so praising as well as correct-
ing is appropriate. The most important concept to remember is
that worthwhile performance reviews are the results of ongoing
assessments and corrections. There should be no surprises in the
formal review. And it should be a pleasant learning and planning
experience for both you and your employees.

Questions to Consider

• What do I need to know about each employee before setting up
the formal performance review?

• What can I do during performance reviews to measure
our communication? Specifically, how can I tell if we are

communicating effectively and working toward improvement
together?

• What is my plan for ensuring I stay involved over time and
allocate enough time to conduct productive performance reviews?