Learning Before Reviewing

It’s that time of the year: the time for employee reviews, business assessments and an evaluation of whether this year’s goals were met. It’s an opportunity to reflect, evaluate what worked and what didn’t and set goals for the new year. According to GPS, a business development firm, one of the most powerful closing tools a business manager can use is performing these annual reviews before the end of the calendar year in order to get a jump on competitors who may wait until the new year to do their performance review. But regarding employee performance reviews, Barrie Gross, founder of Barrie Gross Consulting, disagrees on the importance of timing and worries more there’s only one employee review per year.

“Most companies do only one per year, but the successful ones are incorporating a larger process that takes place throughout the year,” Gross said. “Even though they may only be doing one formal review at the end [of the year] or at the beginning of the next year to address the employee’s performance over the prior year, the successful companies have created a program where that one review really is a part of what has been ongoing performance feedback throughout the year.”

Gross said that constant communication throughout the year allows for more flexibility in when the all-encompassing employee performance review should be conducted; at year end, beginning of the next year, or on an anniversary date system. In regards to business reviews and assessments, timing in relation to budgeting for resources is a key issue to consider.

“Doing it at a time when you’re in a position to budget for the following year is a great opportunity,” Gross said. “They should be done at a time when you’re in a position to make changes for the next critical period. If you can do that in association with budgeting, terrific. If you can do it at the beginning of the following year and still be able to get the resources you need for addressing negative aspects of the analysis you just did for the prior year, then that’s appropriate, too.”

The issue, according to Gross, is not poor timing on employee performance reviews; a big problem is the lack of training in utilizing performance management programs within an organization. If done well, ongoing performance management feedback allows for a balance of performance appraisal and evaluation with the entire spectrum of performance and improvement strategies. Training managers to utilize performance management systems properly will enhance the content, consistency and timeliness of employee performance reviews. And those same general concepts can be applied to annual business reviews too.