Why You Should Be Having Employee Performance Evaluations

Did you know 55 percent of employees think employee performance evaluations are a waste of time?

As a hiring manager or employer, you can’t expect employees to fancy a process designed to unearth their weaknesses.

But this is not about what your employees think. No, it’s about why you should be monitoring their performance.

Here’s why you should conduct periodic employee performance evaluations and give performance feedback.

Performance Feedback Drives Employee Performance

We all need feedback. It makes us better professionals.

Employee performance evaluations help identify the weaknesses and strengths of your staff members.

Providing recommendations on how they can improve their weaknesses can boost their performance.

For instance, a review can reveal that a team manager regularly runs into confrontations with team members.

Here, you can recommend he or she works on his interpersonal skills or takes a short team management course.

Doubt this works? Doubt no more! 92 percent of employees think negative feedback is effective as long as it’s delivered appropriately.

Improved Individual Performance Drives Company Results

Employees are the lifeblood of the company; the nuts and bolts that keep everything running.

Now, think of a company as a car. After a specified number of miles, you take it to an auto garage for servicing. The mechanics diagnose any faults and make the necessary repairs.

Similarly, an employee performance review finds the faults that are preventing your workers from putting in their best performances.

Like the mechanic who fixes the faults, your employee feedback can help them identify the areas to address.

And if they’re able to work on their shortcomings, they do their job competently. In the long run, this improves company performance.

And you know what improve performance means? Increased revenues!

Identify and Recognize Your Best Performers

Sure, all your employees may be rockstars, but they can’t all put in the same level of competence. There will always be those who will stand out!

If yours is a small company with a staff of 10 or 20 members, it can be easy to spot the best performance. But what if your company has several workers? An effective way to identify standout performers is to conduct a performance review.

Once the results of the review are out and you have an idea who your best performance are, go ahead and recognize their efforts.

Why is employee recognition so important?

For starters, recognition is a human need. Once we feel appreciated and valued, we develop a greater motivation to excel even further.

Secondly, recognition improves employee loyalty. Businesses with employee recognition programs record 23.4 percent lower employee turnover than those without the programs.

Re-evaluate Business Objectives As Necessary

Every company has its own set of goals and objectives. Employees are central to the realization of these goals.

However, it’s not uncommon for companies to set unrealistic goals or goals that cannot be achieved with the existing assets.

The problem is, some managers often fail to realize their goals are unachievable until it’s too late to make effective changes.

Conducting regular employee performance reviews is an efficient way to determine whether your current workforce is skilled enough to help the company pursue its objectives.

If you establish that there is a skills shortage, then it’s easy to refocus your business goals as necessary.

Identify the Company’s Skills Shortages /Training Needs

Typically, every position in the organization has a defined set of roles and responsibilities, as well as the professional qualifications the holder is expected to have.

But as market competition gets stiffer and technology advances, it’s important to review these positions and ensure holders are well-equipped to meet the organization’s changing needs.

This means a position that required an associate degree five years ago many now need a bachelor’s degree and at least 3 years’ professional experience.

If this is the case, does it mean you fire the employee you hired five years ago and bring on board a more qualified one?

This is strongly discouraged, because your risk lowering employee morale, as well as damaging the company’s reputation in the recruitment market.

The best action to take is to conduct an employee performance review and identify skills shortages. You can then implement training programs to equip employees with the additional skills and knowledge they need to do their work competently.

As you do this, don’t forget to give performance feedback. This helps employees identify skills they lack and the steps the business is taking to help them acquire these skills.

Grow Stronger Bonds

Employees, especially the younger ones, hate performance reviews.

Nothing makes their stomachs churn more than word going around that a performance review is coming up. It’s probably for this reason performance reviews result in a 30 percent decrease in employee satisfaction.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

As the hiring manager, it’s your job to ensure employees in the organization develop a positive attitude towards performance reviews.

Use review sessions as an opportunity to develop a closer relationship with each employee. Let them know reviews are for the greater good of the company and provide performance feedback in a way that doesn’t make them feel less valuable.

Encourage them to ask questions and provide recommendations on how the review process can be improved.

Final Thoughts on the Importance of Employee Reviews and Performance Feedback

Even though an increasing number of companies are doing away with employee performance reviews, you have every reason to keep doing them.

It’s the most reliable way to identify the weakness and strengths of each employee and, if these weaknesses are addressed, the company can outperform its expectations.

The trick is doing it the right way. Let your employees know the process is designed to help them become better professionals.

Did you love this post? We won’t mind if you share it on your favorite social media channels. Spread the word and let managers know why they shouldn’t give up on performance reviews!

If you have any questions or suggestions, get in touch!