Marketing & HRHow to prepare for a performance review?

Regardless of what you call it in your company, the beginning of each year is usually the best time to talk to your employees or employer about what happened last year, list failures and achievements, and discuss a possible raise. Of course, money is essential, but this type of meeting is not only about money but also the development and comfort of further cooperation for both parties. It doesn't matter if you are an employer or an employee. You need to be well-prepared for the performance cycle.

So, how can you prepare yourself as well as possible?

Think about what you want to achieve. 

The employee and the employer need to know their purpose to start any other preparation process for the annual performance review. Is it your goal to get a raise? Is it your goal to ensure the development of crucial team skills? Does it increase the sense of belonging to the company? Take a piece of paper and write down everything that comes to your mind, and then, based on this, think about your smart goals and work on your strategy for the upcoming meeting.

Develop your strategy.

This point is more complex than the previous one. Because if we know what we want to achieve, it’s much more challenging to prepare a plan of action on this basis. So how can you design a good employee performance review strategy?

Is it your goal to get a raise? Check the salary rates on the market, and find out what the salary scale looks like in your company and the company's financial capabilities. Be honest about whether you should get a raise. Yes, it can be controversial, but we often think we deserve a raise, but the facts are different. Have you increased your knowledge recently? Did you bring any value to the company? Has the scope of your tasks and responsibilities increased? If so, now is the perfect time to talk about a raise. Will it work? I don't know. Not all companies come up with raises like Mobile Reality, but you won't know if you don't try, so do it.

Is it your goal to increase your or your employees' skills? In each of these cases, you need to start by determining what these skills should be. Whether hard or soft skills, you need to know what is your expectation or what want to be approved for, whether hard or soft skills. Whether you are an employer or an employee, it is worth having a job plan prepared, which consists of the fact that requirements and, for example, career paths are written down for each position, thanks to which you, as an employer, know perfectly well in which area you can move within the scope of your employee's skills what you can expect from him. And you, the employee, know what you should learn to be promoted/get a raise and, above all, to develop within the position.

If you already have all the above information, be prepared for various scenarios and proposed solutions. Will you know how you will react and what else you can offer if your employer does not give you a raise this time? Do you know what you will do when your employee tells you he wants to move to another department for a different position? No? Get ready. Think about it, and describe what you can write down in the company's policy, thanks to which such situations will be even more effortless because they are known to everyone.

Explore the process and tools. 

Do you have everything listed above? Now find out or determine (if you are an employer) what the whole process will look like. What tool will be used for the 360-degree assessment, and who should check competencies? What essential skills should be assessed, and how should the employee do the self-assessment? Also, consider what the other process will look like after the assessment. Will you do a summary during the conversation? Or the person's supervisor will make a summary with him and, above all, what such a summary conversation should look like. You can also obtain such information - just ask your former colleagues about the annual evaluation process and their previous experiences. The more you know, the better you will prepare, and the final effect of your conversations will be better.

Prepare extensive feedback. 

You already know what the process will look like. You more or less know what's your expectation and how to prepare, so the next step is to prepare extensive feedback for your person/company, co-workers, and the employee you evaluate. If you are an employer, you must also have all the necessary information about the employees being under the review process. Gather information about everyone you'll give feedback about. Consider whether you are reliable and objective in your assessment, prepare appropriate examples and arguments, and if you are asked questions in the context of your evaluation, just be prepared.

The last thing to remember is a good sense of humor. 

It doesn't matter if you're trying to get a raise or do a performance review to your employees for the 20th time. With a good sense of humor, you will achieve your smart goal, so take it easy. Try to relax and go through the evaluation process as best you can. After all, you are adequately prepared, so you have nothing to worry about.

A well-conducted performance review process in the company is easier than what is done beforehand to prepare everything well, and both parties are left satisfied. Remember that your evaluation goal can largely be achieved only thanks to your work, so try to be well-prepared and test the effectiveness of the above tips at the earliest opportunity. And remember to let me know about the effects by writing to me here: hr@mobilereality.pl