A Quick 'How To' on Great Performance Review Templates

Before we look at performance review templates we really should discuss why we need performance reviews in the workplace. Performance reviews have had a lot of bad press lately, with the release of a new book that says they are damaging to the business and its people. I disagree! Bad performance reviews can be damaging, but great performance reviews can provide extremely good results for the business and the employee being reviewed. And by bad and good, I am not talking about the performance of the staff member but the way in which the manager conducts the review. That's why you need a strong performance review template AND excellent performance review training for all managers who will be undertaking reviews.
Why do we have performance reviews?
Primarily, great reviews are aimed at acknowledging employee contribution and achievements, aligning organizational and employee goals, encouraging employees to meet their full potential by identify training and development gaps, and planning career paths. They are also very useful in terms of determining remuneration decisions based on performance. With the new unfair dismissal laws in Australia, they are a must have, as far as keeping evidence of performance discussions.

What does it mean to be a great reviewer?
There are three things that a great reviewer will do. Firstly, they will use effective communication skills in the review, such as; paraphrasing what the employee is telling them, smile and have positive body language, no matter how difficult the review is, listen intently, ask open questions (not yes and no questions) and not interrupt with their point of view. They will let the employee come up with their own solutions to improving their performance and then tweak those solutions in a supportive way to align them with organizational goals. They will also seek clarification from the employee to ensure that they have understood what they need to do next and what has been discussed.

Secondly, a great reviewer will stick to the process. They will provide pre-review information, give the employee the performance review tool to look over and familiarize themselves with. If you use a ratings tool, it is best to get the employee to self rate prior to review as well. They will plan and prepare their own comments prior to review. They will conduct the review in a professional manner and with the importance that it has, rather than demeaning the system. Post review, they will follow up on items that have resulted from the review, whether that be finding a training program for the employee, getting approval from senior management for a pay rise or just supplying the employee with a copy of the completed review.

Successful review templates
A performance review template should include a list of core competencies that the employee is being assessed upon. If the organisation uses Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), these should be included in the document. There should be some form of assessment of performance rather than just a qualitative feedback form. If you want your pay decisions to be transparent it is important to provide quantitative feedback that they can seek to improve on and get that pay increase once they have improved.

A section on training goals should also form part of the review. This allows the employee to discuss their future goals and personal development aspirations. It provides the manager with the opportunity to suggest courses that would also benefit the company in some way.

The most important part of the review template is the action plan. All performance reviews should result in ongoing action to achieve full potential. That means, a list of goals that link to the competencies listed in the review that need working on. Coming up with goals can be really difficult. We are often asked to help formulate the goals, but if you find it too difficult, tasks on an action list will do. These action items should be measurable i.e. have they been achieved or not.

The manager must check in on the progress of tasks on the action list, throughout the year, as this is the key way that you can use the review to transform your business. People working on goals that align with the business throughout the year will move your organisation into high performance mode. I suggest you don't let this one slide when you get all too busy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4503059