Annual Review Process

A guide to employee evaluation

Performance reviews are held to provide feedback and to take inventory of your department’s most valuable asset, your workers. They provide you with an opportunity to establish a two-way understanding between yourself and your employees, as individuals, through which mutual agreement on objectives and plans for guiding and coaching the person to improve his or her performance and so that development can be reached.

Reviews can also be used for:

• Recording the progress of employees
• Encouraging self-development
• Letting the worker know where he/she stands
• Recognizing employee achievements
• Identifying promotional potential
• Helping your supervisors and personnel to form an opinion of the employee’s worth

To prepare for the interview:

1. Set up the review properly
2. Notify the employee in advance
3. Set a time and date that will be mutually convenient
4. Conduct the review in private without interruptions

Make sure that you have any records or papers on hand that may be necessary for reference. Make sure you know the answers to these questions:

• On what strong points can I compliment the employee?
• On what weak points will I focus constructive criticism?
• Do I have facts that will support my evaluation?
• Have I decided on an approach to win agreement with any suggestions for performance improvement?
• After the review, how will I reinforce my suggestions?

Impartiality when rating an employee is necessary not only from a fairness standpoint, but also from a legal one. Be aware that what you put on a performance review may at some time have to undergo a court test, so refrain from commenting on anything about the employee other than his/her actual performance.

Make sure you do your job of coaching and developing employees all year long, not only at performance review times. One good review will not make up for years of faulty supervision. If you consistently work at supervision all year long, you will not only reap the rewards in more satisfactory performance reviews, but in a better department as well.