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Have you heard of the line “employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their managers”? As cliché as it sounds, a survey by profit.co proves this line to be spot-on. A whopping 79 percent of employees reported leaving their job due to a lack of appreciation. If lack of appreciation is not a problem, 60 percent of employees interviewed during the survey believed that the quality of feedback should also improve.
So clearly, impersonal phrases such as ‘need improvement’ or ‘good job’ would not do the trick. It needs to be more personalized so that employees feel that their managers take a closer look at their work. Finally, according to the profit.co survey, 70 percent of employees believed they would work harder if they felt recognized.
The question then arises – how would employees feel ‘recognized’? A manager can go around informing his team members about their performance. And that would make for good small talk during a coffee break. But for personalized and detailed feedback, employees now look at their performance reviews.
Curating a performance review can be a herculean task for managers or team leads. But with a proper structure and recommended phrases, the process can be simplified. Also, as a result of these phrases, employees would not dread but look forward to a performance review. To help you structure a performance review, this article provides a list of phrases to use.
According to Forbes, the performance review is a systematic process of evaluating the employee’s past performance and articulating future expectations for the job.
Typically, if you work as an employee in an organization, they are bound to provide a performance review – be it monthly, quarterly, or annually. Put simply, these reviews are a formal assessment of your work, with respect to your defined key result areas (KRAs). This assessment also identifies your areas of strength and weakness and accordingly, provides meaningful feedback for improvement. Finally, it also defines your future goals, based on your performance.
Performance fulfills two functions. When used by managers, these assessments do the job of motivating employees, prioritizing their career growth, and defining a concrete list of responsibilities. Doing so, it eliminates any form of ambiguity in an employee’s role at the firm.
When used by employees, these reviews function as a map or pathway for leading efforts in the right direction. Imagine an employee working 10 hours a day but his efforts barely convert into output. This can be avoided by taking the help of your performance review.
Following are the key elements of a modern-day performance review –
There exists a common misconception that performance reviews are the same as continuous feedback. While both may have a similar impact on employees, performance reviews are far more detail-oriented, encompassing all the work that you have done within a particular period. This period can be a month, quarter, or year. You wouldn’t want these reviews to be released monthly, for them to be considered as nominal feedback. On the flip side, conducting annual reviews will be hectic and tedious. So, based on the extent of work and the number of employees, you need to get the timing right.
Many times, employees are judged based on their numbers. How many blogs have they written? How many customers have they onboarded? How many followers increased on LinkedIn? Although these data points are useful in assessing an employee’s quality of work, they cannot be directly used in a performance review. Instead of putting a number on people, why not understand their growth stage and accordingly, write a review that will help them improve?
If you are on the verge of conducting a performance review, make sure to clarify in advance the purpose of your review. Try to clear out the key areas of focus or the kind of questions to expect during the review. This will give employees the time to outline their goals rather than fumble or blank out at the last moment. Thus, the session will be more productive and less chaotic. You can also use an automated feedback tool to streamline the performance review process.
Although a performance review analyses the progress made by an employee, it can be a two-way street. Instead of a traditional review, trying to include multiple perspectives may create an accurate review cycle. Rather than the singular perspective of a manager, an employee will be motivated more if reviewed by multiple people like the manager, peers/colleagues, and of course, self-assessment. A 360-degree review will also ensure that every person is on the same page in terms of a company’s future goals.
In addition to the elements mentioned above, a performance review should also contain simple words/phrases that motivate an employee to work better or make them realize that the organization recognizes sincere effort. The right phrase goes a long way in encouraging the employee to perform better.
Following is a list of performance review phrases under distinct areas of focus –
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
Positive
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
Positive
Positive
Negative
In a nutshell, with the right words and phrases, you can use a performance review for encouraging employees to work harder and step outside their comfort zone. The above phrases are suggestions and you can always add your personal touch to deliver the message. These days, employees look for honest and constructive feedback and areas where they genuinely lack. So, there is no need to use difficult phrases and figures during a performance review. While honesty is the best policy, the way to deliver this honesty to employees also matters.
In a teamwork performance review, write about each member’s contribution, goals achieved by the team, and areas of improvement. Try to draw a comparison between the team’s previous performance review versus the current one and write about their progress.
The 4 best practices in a performance review include –
· Using simple and concise communication
· Provide examples while commenting on the improvement
· Maintaining consistency in putting out reviews
· Including multiple perspectives
To review a team’s overall effectiveness, you can –
· Establish certain metrics to review each team’s progress
· Communicate with the team
· Have a one-to-one meeting with each team member
· Talk and discuss the team with other managers
The 7 key elements of a performance review are –
· Understanding the importance of review
· Choosing the right time for a review
· Talking about progress
· Being sympathetic
· Providing clarity about the review’s aims
· Including multiple perspectives in the review
· Focusing on professional development and morale-boosting
Providing consistent and continuous feedback and later, checking whether the feedback has been incorporated by the employee, during a performance review, is the golden rule to follow.
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