Employee evaluations, or performance reviews, are assessments of an employee’s work over a certain period. They help determine whether the employee has made progress or if there are areas that need improvement. Typically, companies conduct staff evaluations at least twice a year, but they can also be done quarterly.
So, how do you conduct an employee evaluation?
In our blog, we’ll cover everything you need to know about employee evaluations in the workplace — from what they are and their advantages to how to conduct them and what pitfalls to avoid.
Table of Contents
- What Are Employee Evaluations?
- Performance Appraisal vs. Staff Evaluation: What Are the Differences?
- 4 Advantages of Conducting Employee Evaluation
- How Often Should You Conduct Evaluations at Work?
- How To Conduct an Employee Evaluation in 5 Steps
- What To Do After Conducting a Worker Evaluation?
- Conducting Employee Evaluations in a Diverse Workplace
- Common Misconceptions About Employee Evaluations
- Employee Evaluations: Bottom Line
What Are Employee Evaluations?
Employee evaluations are assessments of job performance that help employees improve their work and understand how the company feels about their contributions.
These evaluations are a vital responsibility of the human resource department. Unlike other tasks, employee evaluation cannot be outsourced to an HR BPO. Hence, as an HR professional, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your company conducts an effective employee evaluation process.
The information gathered during evaluations allows management to adjust based on how well employees perform their duties and responsibilities.
Performance Appraisal vs. Staff Evaluation: What Are the Differences?
Performance appraisals and staff evaluations are two types of employee evaluations used to assess an employee's performance at work. Both methods rely on evaluating an employee's past performance and future potential and use feedback from managers and peers to provide a well-rounded view of the employee’s performance.
However, these two serve distinct purposes and are used in different contexts. As an HR officer, it's essential to understand the difference between them to know when and how to use each effectively. Here’s how they differ:
Performance Appraisal
Performance reviews are a formal process of evaluating employee performance. In general, these reviews are conducted yearly. They may include assessments of the employee's skills, knowledge, or abilities in specific areas such as teamwork or problem-solving.
The goal of a performance review is to give employees feedback about their job performance, identify areas for improvement, and set goals for the future. They also allow managers and employees to discuss other aspects of their life at work, as well as align them with the HR mission statements.
Staff Evaluation
Staff evaluation is another type of employee review process. HR officers often use it in conjunction with performance appraisals.
In a staff evaluation, employees typically receive more specific feedback than in a performance appraisal. You may also provide them with specific goals or tasks they need to accomplish before they can move forward in their career paths within your organization.
Staff evaluations are usually conducted by a group of individuals within a larger organization responsible for evaluating an employee's effectiveness from a certain group or department.
4 Advantages of Conducting Employee Evaluation
Employee evaluations bring many benefits for both employees and the business. Here are four key advantages of the employee evaluation process:
- Understanding the performance of employees
- Creating a culture of growth
- Managing employee expectations
- Building communication
1. Understanding the Performance of Employees
An evaluation allows you to gauge how your employees are performing. Based on that you can make informed decisions on your staffing costs. Staff evaluations also help you identify each employee’s strengths and weaknesses.
The more frequent the employee evaluations, the more insights you gain into their work progress. This gives you ample time to come up with a strategy that can help refine their skills and performance.
2. Creating a Culture of Growth
All HR practitioners should gear their practical evaluation process toward helping employees improve. By pointing out their strengths and offering support to address weaknesses, you can boost employee motivation and engagement.
A well-structured evaluation process helps employees identify areas where they can improve and help them grow as professionals and individuals. This, in turn, directly contributes to the overall growth of the business.
Tip: Avoid punishing employees for their mistakes. This approach can demotivate them and lead to lower performance levels. Instead, focus on constructive feedback and support.
3. Managing Employee Expectations
Employee evaluations help you manage the expectations of your employees. By identifying the areas they need to improve on, you create a roadmap for the upcoming months, which they will follow to build up their skills.
Additionally, evaluations ensure the employees know the requirements they need to meet to maintain their positions within the company. They also help identify which employees are ready for a promotion, so you can recognize and reward those who are capable and performing well.
4. Building Communication
Employee evaluations provide an excellent opportunity to talk to your employees about their future goals and how these align with the company’s mission and vision. This helps you learn how to support employees individually so the job can be done more efficiently.
Building strong communication lines with employees also prepares HR to handle unforeseen events, such as maternity or medical leaves. In such cases, their established relationship with employees helps HR to quickly shift resources and fill positions effectively until the matter is resolved.
How Often Should You Conduct Evaluations at Work?
It all depends on your business type and what is appropriate for it. In general, employee evaluations should be done at least twice a year.
In larger teams, such as a sales team, you might have to conduct evaluations more often. Your evaluation schedule should align with how often you communicate with your team members.
Effective managers should take time to communicate with their team members regularly and discuss their progress and how they're handling their responsibilities. These ongoing conversations can work hand in hand with formal evaluations to help ensure continuous improvement.
How To Conduct an Employee Evaluation in 5 Steps
The evaluation process is a collaborative effort between managers and employees to ensure a mutual understanding of company expectations and any adjustments they need to make for future evaluations.
Here are the steps on how to evaluate an employee:
- Determine your evaluation method
- Make sure the employee is informed in advance
- Prepare the form
- Review the employee's performance
- Provide constructive feedback
Step 1: Determine Your Evaluation Method
Determine what kind of evaluation best fits your organization’s needs. There are many different types of assessments, including:
- Self-assessment: Employees assess their own performance over a time period against a set of criteria. This type of evaluation usually complements other methods and is a great way to prepare employees for constructive feedback. It can also reveal discrepancies between their self-view and employee assessments, pinpointing potential problem areas.
- 360-degree evaluation: This is a type of evaluation where you ask your employees, peers, direct reports, and managers to assess the performance of an employee from multiple perspectives.
- Focus group: This is also a good way to conduct an evaluation. You’ll need to recruit a few members from each department and ask them to participate in the evaluation process.
- Rating scale: This is a common evaluation method that provides a quantitative measure of an employee's performance. It utilizes a predefined scale to rate various aspects and qualities of an employee. The ratings also help compare performance across team members.
- Peer review: This involves team members evaluating each other’s performance. It can provide insight into team dynamics and highlight strengths and areas for improvement that supervisors may not be aware of.
Step 2: Inform the Employee in Advance
Give your employees at least one month's notice before conducting their evaluation. This gives them enough time to prepare themselves, organize any needed documentation, and ensure all their ducks are in a row. This makes the process easier and more effective for everyone involved.
Step 3: Prepare the Form
Before you start the employee evaluation process, create an employee evaluation template to streamline the process and ensure a comprehensive assessment. It should include information such as:
- Employee name
- Date of birth/hire date
- Job title
- Supervisor name
- Department name
- Previous manager (if switching roles)
- Current manager's name
- You'll also want to include metrics such as production rate per hour
Use the evaluation form as the framework to organize your talking points and ensure that the discussion is structured, efficient, and covers all aspects of the evaluation.
Step 4: Prepare Your Feedback Beforehand
You should be properly prepared before an evaluation meeting to ensure you can give constructive feedback and satisfy the meeting's purpose.
Here are some things you should prepare before the meeting itself:
- Review performances: Gather your thoughts and insights and prepare your feedback and comments ahead of time. Assess how the employee performed on specific projects or tasks. Determine if their performance has improved or declined since they started working for the company and consider what factors might have contributed to those changes.
- Gather specific examples: Don’t enter the evaluation meeting empty-handed. Collect specific examples and data to support your observation. Document their accomplishments and list down areas for improvement.
- Develop an action plan: Create a detailed action plan for the employee to follow after the meeting. It should outline specific steps to improve and achieve their goal.
These preparations can ensure that the feedback you give will be constructive, clear, and actionable for the employee.
Step 5: Conduct the Meeting
Here are some tips on how to effectively conduct your employee evaluation:
- Deliver your feedback clearly and constructively.
- Discuss how your employees can improve or suggest ways the employee can enhance their performance.
- Ensure open communication, especially for younger employees.
- Ask them what specific goals they have for themselves over the next quarter and consider what steps you might take to help them achieve those goals, if possible. Additionally, consider performing a skill gap analysis to determine what skills employees need to perform their duties effectively.
- Provide positive reinforcement by recognizing and praising the employee’s achievements. Positive feedback, such as simple ‘thank you’, can motivate an employee to bring their A-game and boost productivity up to 69%.
What To Do After Conducting a Worker Evaluation?
Here are some things to think about once you've completed an employee evaluation:
- How did the conversation go? Was it productive? Did it get in the way of work?
- Were there any surprises? Were you able to provide feedback that your employee didn't know?
- Did you feel like you were able to give constructive criticism and make suggestions for improvement?
- Did your employee seem receptive to what you had to say? If not, why not?
- If you were able to give good feedback, what was the reaction? Did your employees seem open and willing to work on improving their performance?
Conducting Employee Evaluations in a Diverse Workplace
Managing a diverse workforce presents unique challenges, especially when finding ways to measure employee performance equally and accurately. Here are a few tips that can help:
1. Recognize Your Biases
Unconsciously, you may have some biases based on race, age, ethnicity, etc. that can affect your evaluation process. It’s best that you first recognize these biases so you can ensure inclusiveness and equality on all levels.
Use online tests like the Harvard Project Implicit where you can take a bias test. Learn from it and work on improving your biases so you can provide a company that nurtures diversity.
2. Use Different Methods of Evaluation
When managing diverse teams, it's crucial to consider different evaluation methods and approaches to fit the unique dynamics and needs of the team. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so flexibility is key.
For instance, in cases where you have employees from different religious or cultural backgrounds, a manager-driven performance evaluation could ensure a more standardized and impartial assessment, reducing the potential for bias.
On the other hand, if a team tends to be more collaborative than competitive, it might make sense to use peer evaluations instead of manager-driven ones. This way, you can better understand how your team works together and what they value from their coworkers.
3. Communication Is Key
It's also helpful to think about how you communicate with different groups, as effective communication fosters an inclusive environment. Actively work to make the company a welcoming space for everyone by accommodating different communication styles. This can encourage people from different backgrounds to feel more comfortable sharing their ideas.
Common Misconceptions About Employee Evaluations
Employee evaluations are often associated with negativity. For instance, people often think managements use evaluations to single out employees performing poorly and terminate them.
Let’s debunk some of the common misconceptions about employee evaluation:
- Evaluations are not designed to get rid of people without paying severance packages. Instead, assessments help everyone involved to succeed together in their mutual goals for success.
- Employee evaluations are not a one-way street, wherein only managers provide feedback. Many companies require employees to complete self-evaluations to ensure feedback is balanced and so that all parties can be on the same page about what needs improvement.
- Staff evaluations are not just about assessing the employee's performance. It's crucial to acknowledge the employee’s overall situation, especially if there are external factors affecting their job performance.
Employee Evaluations: Bottom Line
Employee evaluations don't have to be intimidating or stressful. Instead, they should be viewed as incredibly beneficial for everyone involved. Evaluations give a chance for both employees and employers to come together and discuss the company's future, how it can improve, and the benefits these changes bring.
A professional HR outsourcing agency can also help you with this process, so we advise looking for the right agency to partner with for your project.
