{"id":666,"date":"2017-12-29T19:25:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T19:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonus.wpengine.com\/?p=666"},"modified":"2018-01-02T14:45:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T14:45:00","slug":"performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This just in! People hate performance reviews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Managers hate how much time they suck up, employees hate the awkward self-evaluations, and everyone hates the annual dump of repressed criticism, praise, and feedback. Throw in the added pressure of compensation adjustments, and you\u2019ve got a regular recipe for despair.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In recent years, performance management backlash has resulted in many businesses deciding to ditch them all together. But is that really the best solution? Does the criticism and feedback just get repressed permanently? How will employees know where to improve? Will anyone ever get a raise?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Performance management processes are getting poor reviews<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/talentmanagement360.com\/10-statistics-about-performance-management-that-will-blow-your-mind\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">statistics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are out there to prove it. According to<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20140602005766\/en\/Virgin-Pulse-Survey-Reveals-Investing-Employees%E2%80%99-Well-Being#.VfwYg53BzGd\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, over half of employers surveyed said they don\u2019t measure improved productivity. But that\u2019s just the beginning.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">45% of HR leaders do not think annual performance reviews are an accurate appraisal for an employee\u2019s work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">58% of organizations rated their performance management system as a \u201cC grade or below.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only 14% of organizations are happy with their performance management system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A mere 8% of companies report that their performance management process drives high levels of value. Nearly 60% said it is not an effective use of time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Performance reviews either aren\u2019t being done well or aren\u2019t happening at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Did We Throw Out the Baby with the Bath Water?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are some benefits to the traditional performance review. Having a defined process in place encourages the development of standardized practices and objective criteria for rating performance. It also helps with documenting employee performance issues, which may help prevent discrimination and unlawful termination claims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When done right, performance management can also help build relationships, increase employee engagement, assist with talent development and succession planning, and create staff loyalty and trust.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The best of both worlds<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps formal performance reviews don\u2019t need to disappear. Maybe they just need to change with the times. A new version of the old review that aligns with your company goals and emerging best practices might just be the answer you need.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some key ways you can put a new twist on employee reviews, and make everybody happier in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Scrap the formal, annual review<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ineffectiveness of annual reviews doesn\u2019t just come from the amount of pressure that builds up over the course of 12 months. Or the awkwardness of talking to your boss about performance issues while trying to eat sushi.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re only assessing progress once a year, it\u2019s going to be hard to remember key details for each of your employees. And even if your memory is a steel trap, the feedback you provide is often too little, too late. Employees don\u2019t want critiques about how they handled something six months ago. They want real time feedback and support that can help them do their jobs better and more efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tip: Schedule short meetings on a regular basis (quarterly, monthly or even weekly) and focus on and how you can help your employees succeed.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>Take notes and summarize<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The human memory is a funny thing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn\u2019t. And sometimes two people remember the same event two completely different ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take notes during or right after your meetings, and send them along to summarize what was covered and any specific takeaways. Make sure both of you are in consensus, and that it\u2019s captured in writing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once feedback becomes more frequent and notes are being kept on a regular basis, performance review meetings become more of a summary and discussion of feedback the employee has already been given. This conversation can set the tone and trajectory for the time period until the next review.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Give constructive criticism<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It should go without saying that the point of performance management should be to review progress and make suggestions for improved performance\u2014 not to nitpick or wield power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Addressing performance issues can be tricky, and requires some finesse. It\u2019s natural for people to get defensive, but these conversations get easier when your employees know you\u2019re primarily interested in helping them move forward and do their best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of showing up with a laundry list of complaints or demands, ask some open-ended questions so employees can address their own performance successes and concerns. Did you get the results you wanted? How does this work fit in with company goals? Would you have done anything differently? Are there ways management can help make these processes better or more efficient?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Address the elephant in the room<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re going through organizational change, a staffing issue, serious morale issues, or some other major challenge, don\u2019t dance around the topic or make people drag information out of you. Be honest and open about what\u2019s happening and how it could affect the company and the team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The same goes for compensation. Companies who talk about compensation early and often can remove the taboo and the stress involved with bringing it up. Make sure your compensation policies are fair, documented, and consistent.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Schedule reviews in advance<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dropping by for an unexpected performance meeting is more likely to raise heart rates than performance levels<\/span><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last thing you want to do is cause anxiety and draw attention away from the real work of developing your team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If regularly scheduled meeting times don\u2019t work for your company culture, that\u2019s okay. Just be sure to approach performance meetings in a constructive way. Request a meeting ahead of time and let your employees know what you\u2019d like to discuss.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Make it a two way street<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluating employees isn\u2019t just about checking off boxes and letting them know what they did right and wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course you\u2019ll want to check in on things like schedules, workloads, projects, processes, and results. But also make it clear that as a manager, your main purpose isn\u2019t just to grade performance. You\u2019re also there to answer questions, listen to ideas, and provide support.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your employees will never meet their goals if you don\u2019t give them the tools they need to be successful. Make sure you\u2019re holding up your end of the deal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Running into challenges with employee performance, engagement, and retention? At Sonus Benefits, we\u2019ve got ideas to help you address these issues and more. Get in touch with Sonus to find out what working with a true employee benefits consultant feels like.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This just in! People hate performance reviews. Managers hate how much time they suck up, employees hate the awkward self-evaluations, and everyone hates the annual dump of repressed criticism, praise, and feedback. Throw in the added pressure of compensation adjustments, and you\u2019ve got a regular recipe for despair. In recent years, performance management backlash has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life? - Sonus Benefits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life? - Sonus Benefits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This just in! People hate performance reviews. Managers hate how much time they suck up, employees hate the awkward self-evaluations, and everyone hates the annual dump of repressed criticism, praise, and feedback. Throw in the added pressure of compensation adjustments, and you\u2019ve got a regular recipe for despair. In recent years, performance management backlash has...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sonus Benefits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-29T19:25:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-02T14:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/review.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"945\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Schulte\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Schulte\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/\",\"name\":\"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life? - Sonus Benefits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-29T19:25:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-02T14:45:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab445b8e1052f6efefe886be2c9aea7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sonus Benefits\",\"description\":\"Employee Benefits\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab445b8e1052f6efefe886be2c9aea7\",\"name\":\"Scott Schulte\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10bd56101c78714ebb148032fb0fef96?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10bd56101c78714ebb148032fb0fef96?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Scott Schulte\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/author\/sschulte\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life? - Sonus Benefits","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life? - Sonus Benefits","og_description":"This just in! People hate performance reviews. Managers hate how much time they suck up, employees hate the awkward self-evaluations, and everyone hates the annual dump of repressed criticism, praise, and feedback. Throw in the added pressure of compensation adjustments, and you\u2019ve got a regular recipe for despair. In recent years, performance management backlash has...","og_url":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/","og_site_name":"Sonus Benefits","article_published_time":"2017-12-29T19:25:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-02T14:45:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":945,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/review.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Scott Schulte","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scott Schulte","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/","url":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/","name":"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life? - Sonus Benefits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-12-29T19:25:59+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-02T14:45:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab445b8e1052f6efefe886be2c9aea7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/performance-reviews-dying-bring-back-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Performance Reviews Are Dying. Should You Bring Them Back to Life?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/","name":"Sonus Benefits","description":"Employee Benefits","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab445b8e1052f6efefe886be2c9aea7","name":"Scott Schulte","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10bd56101c78714ebb148032fb0fef96?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10bd56101c78714ebb148032fb0fef96?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Scott Schulte"},"url":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/author\/sschulte\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonusbenefits.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}