According to Gallup, about half of the workforce receives manager feedback only a few times per year or even less than that. The problem? Our workforce wants more feedback more often. Follow these tips for performance management in order to take your relationship with your employees to the next level.
55% of workers believe annual reviews don’t improve their performance. – 2019 Workhuman Analytics & Research study
- Give feedback in real time rather than waiting for periodic reviews. Many employees find the words “feedback” or “review” scary and can automatically assume any feedback is negative. Instead, open up a culture of communication where approaching them with immediate feedback is more typical.
- Schedule regular one-on-ones. While it’s a good idea to give immediate feedback as often as necessary, creating standing one-on-one meetings with each employee is another way to keep lines of communication open. Plus, feedback is more effective and better received when there’s frequent communication.
- Welcome more informal conversations. This will help take away some of the fear that can come with the terms “feedback” or “review” and lead to more genuine communication.
- Be open to feedback about management. Not only should you create a culture of regular feedback for your employees, you should also create a culture that values feedback from employees for management. Encourage employees to bring any questions or concerns about management to you and show that you take their feedback seriously.
- Use data. Feedback can become extremely subjective without data. Utilize performance and productivity metrics in order to have objective data to talk about with your employees.
- Be flexible. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the need for flexibility in the workplace. If you still have employees working from home, you may need to change how you approach performance management. And as we head into a new year, there’s no telling what other changes will need to be made. Check in regularly with your employees to determine what they need and make adjustments as necessary.
How will you approach performance management as we move into a new year? If you need any help with this or any other HR issues, we’d be happy to help. Just reach out to us here and we’ll get started.
