Employee performance reviews are known to affect future accomplishments and routines of an employee. Some employees and managers normally consider these an unwanted and dreaded activity. Employees find it stressful as it may leads to promotions or pay raise, therefore, nobody wants negative reviews. Performance appraisals can be made more productive for employees and comparatively easier for managers using different techniques.
Problems with Traditional Performance Reviews
The major problem with a traditional approach is that it is generally a one-off event conducted, instead of a regular process. It happens only once a year and the person conducting performance appraisals is not the one managing employee daily performance. The manager reviewing the performance is inclined to use the most recent activity as an indicator for a full year’s performance. Annual reviews are too closely tied to salaries and 30% of employee reviews end up decreasing performance and 90% are said to be painful and ineffective.
Destructive Impact on Reviews
Inaccurate or unsatisfying reviews result in increase in stress and anxiety, thereby, leading to a decrease in job satisfaction of employees and decreased productivity as well as morale. 51% of employees consider appraisals to be inaccurate and 58% of managers also think that employee performance appraisals are not an effective use of time.
How to Make the Reviews More Productive
Performance appraisals can be made effective by offering regular feedback, as 71% of employees prefer immediate response even if it is negative. Criticism should always be constructive and an employee’s hard work and goals achieved should be acknowledged.90% of employees are more motivated by positive feedback. Implementation of peer review is also accepted by almost 88% of employees very happily.
