Discussions about performance reviews have been under fire in recent years. While some employers find more frequent, less formal evaluations to meet their needs, annual performance reviews can be beneficial if they are conducted using best practices including: regular feedback from managers and performance goals set by employees and their managers.
Performance reviews have many goals, some of which are developmental and some are to help an employee understand how they are completing their tasks and how they fit into the bigger club picture. While there are several different kinds of review processes to consider, taking the time to plan and integrate performance reviews into the overall performance management process can help improve employee performance.
Periodic & Continuous Review
Short evaluations throughout the year can keep employees engaged and allow managers ample time to meet with each employee—helping employees to understand how their performance is being evaluated and provide feedback on the club’s performance in turn. These brief monthly or bimonthly meetings can lead naturally toward the annual performance review and provide managers with specific examples to include in the yearly review.
Managers can conduct periodic employee conversations and planning meetings: short, 15-minute meetings that include listening, praise, brief training and specific goal setting for the next meeting. During these meetings, managers should attempt to understand the employees’ perspectives through a series of targeted questions. For example, managers can ask employees to list several of their favorite tasks and why they like them and then follow up with questions about how they complete these tasks and how they might improve the way they do them. Managers can work with employees to set a SMART goal (specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, time-bound) for the next meeting. Managers can also ask employees a similar set of questions about their least favorite tasks, and then work together to create another set of SMART goals that will help the employee improve his or her level of satisfaction with completing those tasks. During these meetings, managers should be sure to recognize the employee for good performance and goal achievements, discuss additional ideas for improvement, and then work together to set another SMART goal to keep the employee moving forward.
At the next meeting, managers and employees can review progress toward achieving the goals discussed in the last meeting and set new ones. By the time of the annual review, managers can review the goals completed and can properly evaluate the employees’ progress throughout the year.
The Annual Review
In preparation for the annual performance appraisal, managers should review the department’s and club’s goals with their employees and ask employees how their performances helped achieve these goals.
Managers should also ask staff to do a self-review, highlighting how they perceive their own performance during the past year. The self-review provides the opportunity for employees to articulate ways they can contribute to the club’s success and suggest ways to improve their job performance.
Managers should take the time to thoughtfully prepare each review. The primary reason performance reviews fail to be useful is that they often entail only a checklist of tasks with scores. Managers who have met regularly with their employees throughout the year to check on employees’ progress are more successful at using the annual performance review as an effective management tool. Proper preparation for the performance review should include:
- Reviewing and updating the job/position description
- Reviewing the employee’s last performance review and goals as the basis for the current performance review, to address performance change over time
- Reviewing notes and documents accumulated during the year, such as feedback from members and coworkers and other documents showing the employee’s achievements
- Addressing performance that met expectations during the past year with specific examples and recognition for good performance
- Addressing performance that did not meet expectations during the past year with specific examples while clarifying the performance expectations
- Setting SMART goals for the coming year that will help the employee meet performance expectations and will help the club achieve its strategic goals and vision
- Identifying knowledge and skill development goals for the employee that will support professional development
Before the conversation at the performance review meeting, the manager should ensure that:
- Both the manager and employee have had a chance to prepare and have allocated sufficient time (at least one hour) for the meeting
- The meeting is in a private space not prone to interruptions
Done properly, the annual performance review is an effective tool for ongoing performance management. Rather than completing annual reviews and filing them away until it is time to do the next year’s reviews, managers should use the performance review throughout the year to monitor employees’ progress and to provide the training, coaching and other resources that will help staff reach their goals. The performance review also provides an opportunity for managers to periodically share the club vision and strategic objectives and discuss how the employee’s performance is helping to achieve them.
This article is excerpted from HR Management: Best Practices for Private Clubs. For additional information or to purchase this publication, see the online store.
