By WCEOHQ Guest Blogger, R. John Gaudu, VP, Wellington Steele & Associates
It is that time of year again. No, not the annual holiday rush or waiting in long lines, not the endless parade of parties celebrating the year gone by or promoting the promise of things to come to. Rather I am speaking of the dreaded EMPLOYEE REVIEW PROCESS. Yes, it is that time of year when department managers meet with their employees to assess work from the past year. These reviews are used to define issues that apply to the health and well being of the company. Some are used to assign bonuses or raises for work goals achieved during the previous year. Others lay out the overall company growth and profitability model for the upcoming fiscal year. Still others outline the goals and expectations for each employee. Regardless of the motive, all employee reviews share common items:
* Assessment of work done
* Assignment of goals to be achieved
* Fiscal impact of the above
Most employee reviews have become a bit like New Year’s resolutions. Everyone tries to incorporate one into his or her life, but very few actually follow through. Just like a resolution, an employee review, if done correctly, can evolve from a painful self-awareness exercise to a profitable and rewarding year-long experience.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that most employees want to set realistic, attainable and measureable goals. Much of one’s self image is defined by his/her work, and life satisfaction is tightly linked to being recognized and rewarded for a job well done. What better tool to accomplish this than an employee review?
A useful employee review template contains measurable criteria associated with personal and professional goals. These can be tied to any number of items such as:
* Increased profitability to the company
* Labor, project or overhead cost reductions
* Employee efficiency enhancements
* Certification or training achievements
* Process or procedural documentation and practices
* New or increased market share
The first item to consider in a review is its reason. For example,
* Is it a periodic self-review or update
* An annual raise or bonus
* A merit situation
* A promotion
* An unsatisfactory performance
Once the reason has been established, then weighing the contributing factors on a numerical scale could include items such as:
- Effectiveness - The extent to which a team member’s work and commitment contributes toward the team goals.
- Organization - The extent to which a team member organizes and produces effective work in a timely manner.
- Job Skills - The extent to which a team member possesses the practical/technical skills required on the job.
- Reliability - The extent to which a team member can be relied upon regarding task completion and follow up.
- Availability - The extent to which a team member is punctual, and has an acceptable attendance record.
- Independence - The extent to which a team member performs work with little or no supervision.
- Creativity and Problem Solving- The extent to which a team member proposes ideas, finds new and better ways of doing things, and uses appropriate problem solving skills.
- Initiative - The extent to which a team member seeks out new assignments and assumes additional duties when necessary.
- Accountability - The extent to which a team member demonstrates proper accountability to other team members and the team leader.
- Interpersonal Skills - The extent to which a team member is willing and demonstrates the ability to cooperate, work and communicate with co-workers, team leaders/supervisors, subordinates and/or outside contacts.
- Skills Enhancement - The extent to which a team member pursues new training or attains new practical/technical skill to extend job functions
A good template will allow for both manager and employee to enter comments or explanatory text along with the graded criteria. It should include a place for both parties to sign and agree to the covenant created by the document. Scheduling a pre-selected time to revisit the document to measure results and modify goals or expectations is necessary to prove the long term value placed upon the process by the company.
In closing here is helpful tip; share the numbers. Identify how each contributing factor adds or subtracts from the company profitability and morale overall. By illustrating real world examples of outstanding as well as unsatisfactory performance and its impact to the company’s profitability you reinforce the true intent of the review. Revisiting the review on a periodic basis reinforces the same factor.
R. John Gaudu is the Vice President of Wellington Steele & Associates, Inc.
95 Alliance Drive
Rochester, NY 14623
P.585.360.4350
c.585.319.6556
f.585.360.4335
I have been so bweidlered in the past but now it all makes sense!
Posted by: Rangler | January 28, 2012 at 12:33 AM
The frequent use of 'team', and 'organization' is not given here by accident. Goals and objectives need to be set such that the health of the entity is optimized; not just the bit that was any one individual's to do. Companies don't need any more silos!
There is real value in goals-congruency as well; Meaning, everyone shares in at least one goal that is measured at a level higher than that which they (only) can contribute. An example is customer retention; or profit. Something to which their results contribute.... but which their results are not 'the' most significant input.
Posted by: Janet Nelson | March 14, 2011 at 03:22 PM