Are Employee Reviews Critical To Employee Improvement?
An employee review is a means of evaluating how an employee performs the work assigned
to him or her and is one of the documents used in deciding whether the employee deserves a raise, or is to be promoted or whether he or she is to continue in the present job or not. In spite of its many uses, it is often the case that an entrepreneur will make the mistake of not conducting an employee review. This happens in spite of the fact that an employee review has been found to have a positive impact on the business as a whole. The employee review is certainly a necessity that a business organization can ill afford not to have.There are also certain legal ramifications to holding an employee review since it can be the legal basis on which the organization can terminate the services of an employee at some point of time in the future. The employee review will record the negative (and positive) performances of employees and thus it makes it impossible for any speculation to exist when a termination of services is issued later on.
Holding an employee review is not a waste of time; especially if it is well designed in which case it will actually positively impact the effectiveness of the company as well as the employee and see bottom lines achieve healthy levels. The first thing the company needs to do to begin an employee review is to establish a process that will be the vehicle by which to drive the evaluation process forward. There is a need to settle the review criteria at the outset and also decide the frequency of the review process. There should also be uniformity right across the company and the same evaluation standards should apply to every employee within the company.
There is no point in formulating an employee review process without taking the active participation of the employee into consideration. The voice of employees should be given a listen and incorporated if and when necessary. This has a positive effect on the employee who will feel more valued as well as useful to the company, which will also be reflected in better performances on the job.
When the business organization institutes an employee review, it should do so in a positive manner as this is an occasion for positive communications with the employees. The general outlook and feel of the employee review should not tilt towards the negative aspects; rather, it should provide the maximum number of positive feedback about employee performance and the employee should feel reassured that his or her hard work and diligence is appreciated, considered as well as rewarded.
It is certainly well appreciated by those that formulate an employee review that the task is not an easy one and it is especially so in the case of small companies and departments. The employee review should per force be objective and not subjective. Performances need to be measured against quantifiable parameters and not on hunches, feelings and perceptions. It is also not a good idea to punish failures or use excessive discipline. On the contrary, if an employee has been found, during the employee review, to have done well, then this should be rewarded.
The employee review form is readily available in the market and finding one should not pose any problem as there are many vendors who specialize in such documents and for a few dollars one may obtain completely researched and well formed employee review form. There is no need for researching and creating one from scratch as buying these documents provides an avenue for obtaining comprehensively created solutions that have had experts draft them and they are suited for all manner of use. Spending a few dollars, one could reap great benefits as there is plenty to be saved in terms of time, money and cost as well as being tailored to suit individual requirements.
by: Wade Anderson