The Use of Reviews

The Use of Reviews

As long as I have been in the business world, I have participated in the review process.  No matter how many times I have been given a review and no matter how positive the review has been, there have always been one or two comments I have taken as highly negative.  In fact, in some managers’ minds, the best way to use reviews is to put people down and create a great deal of insecurity.  Regardless of how little or great the negatives are, they always lead to a sense of insecurity in the employee’s behavior.  The comments are generally remembered for the entire year and in moments of stress, these comments become the mental battleground for the employee’s level of passive resistance.

There are many methods of using reviews, but I have found a couple of extremely useful techniques to make sure an employee is never surprised by a manager’s evaluation.  Differences in perception of a person’s performance are also identified for what they really are:  two people observing one’s behavior from different points of view.  I firmly believe that most review problems come from differences in values, which, as I said earlier, are how you spend your time, how you spend your money, and how you treat other people.

Usually, a review form has been designed by a personnel department as a general document with the assumption that all employees can be rated evenly and with the same form.  The problem with this is that all the jobs in the company have specific tasks and requirements that make a general form inappropriate.  This can create problems.  Most review forms have a closing section that asks:

1)    What are the person’s strengths?

2)    What are the person’s weaknesses?

3)    What is a plan to help improve the employee’s performance?

It is also true that most review periods take place after the closing of the business year, when all the numbers are in.  I began to develop a very successful tool, that is used is to pre-review all employees three to four months prior to the formal company review period, which allows them to begin working on improving their performances, and makes the formal review process a no-surprise event.

I take the three questions about good points, needs for improvement, and the plan to improve, and have each manager fill in their answers three to four months before the formal period.  This helps the managers identify their employees’ concerns before they actually use the review, so they can take disciplinary action if there are problems, and identify positive behaviors that need to be rewarded during the formal period.  It ensures that the manager and I discuss each employee at least twice a year, not just at review time, and have a chance to find solutions to any problems.  This process also eliminates any surprises about employee performance during the formal review.  It does not have to go in the employee’s permanent record, so there is less hesitancy to spell out the entire truth.  Finally, it establishes plans for improvement at the time when most employees are receptive to positive behavioral changes.  Most employees know when salary review time is, and behaviors and attitudes always improve two to three months before then.

Reviews always boil down to three basic types of communication with the employee.

The first is the easiest:  the employee sees their behavior and performance exactly as you do.  You agree on their strengths and weaknesses and you both agree on a plan to help improve areas that need to be, or can be, improved.  These reviews go smoothly and these employees usually get promoted.

The second most common communication: is with the employee who is totally at odds with your appraisal of their behaviors.  You and they see the world totally differently.  Where you say they need to improve, they think they are great.  This type of review is also very easy –  the issues are clearly defined and ultimately the employee is put on notice, removed from the company, or finds a convenient reason to get a new job.  Usually this type of employee creates a lot of bad morale, and until their departure, bad-mouths both the company and the manager at any opportunity.  He or she should be helped out of the company as quickly as possible, though it is also important over the long term to allow this person maximum dignity.  There are people who may eventually see the light and remember being treated in a compassionate way.

The last form of employee review communication is the most difficult:  Here, the employee does some things very well or satisfactorily, but has other behaviors that are not appropriate.  These employees do well enough to stay employed but create a great deal of mental anguish for a manager because they are constantly being just disruptive enough to cause a problem.  They are very hard to review, because generally they don’t believe there is a problem.  I suggest that 70-80% of a manager’s employee problems happen when dealing with this type of situation.

A technique that I have found very effective in dealing with all three of these situations is comparing a self-review to the formal review.  The technique is very simple.  You first devise a simple three- to four-section review that has a one to five rating scale.  For instance, if customer service is one section it might only have three questions:

1)    Approaches customers in a positive and appropriate manner.

2)    Helps customers in handling problems.

3)    Customers feel positive after their interaction.

Each of these statements would have a one to five, or good to bad rating scale.

As a manager, you have to create the questions that best define the behaviors and activities that make for an effective employee.  You then fill in your ratings of each employee, and have each employee rate themselves.  Finally you sit down with each employee and compare their scores with yours.

The three types of review communication will become obvious.  Most employees will have the same scores as yours and they will be the ones you most enjoy working with.  There will also be a few who rate themselves much lower than you rate them.  These employees are in need of greater self-esteem.  They are usually some of your best but they are afraid to rate themselves highly.  This technique can really help improve their self-image, and bring them to their full potential.

A small group will give themselves all high marks vs. your total low marks.  These are the employees you should help find a new job.

Finally, there are those employees who match your ratings in some areas, but see their behavior much differently in others.  This is where this tool is most valuable.  It allows you to say that while you agree with their opinion that their behavior is positive in some areas, there are other areas that the two of you view very differently.  You then ask them what should be done about it.  This allows the employee to see most clearly the differences in perception of their performance, while leaving them the most dignity.  The normal one-way review in this situation tends to focus only on the differences, and does not generate enough conversation about the positive.  I believe this process gives you the best and quickest review communication with your employees.

Both of the techniques–the pre-evaluation and the comparison review–are done outside the normal formal review process.  Both should be done prior to the end of the business year.  If you are taking over a new territory, these processes are even more useful, in terms of enhancing communication and building understanding with your employees.  Again, the objective is to make sure that employees are never surprised at your perception of their performance.

If done positively, the review process is a motivating experience.  People walk away with a clear picture of how to achieve success and a comfortable understanding of how they are performing.  They never feel there was a surprise or hidden agenda.  If they feel either of these, it leads to passive resistance, potential morale problems, and a fear of the review process.

It is said that the review process is the manager’s most powerful tool in motivating their subordinates.  It is imperative that reviews help strengthen your organization, not undermine it.