Holistic Assessment: Strategies for Conducting a Comprehensive Year-End Review
Let’s face it: year-end performance reviews have a bad reputation. Both managers and employees often brace themselves for these moments with a mix of dread and a dash of “Do I really have to?”. There have even been various movements to do away with formal annual reviews altogether. However, year-end reviews are an integral part of achieving organizational synergy, by creating a structure for clear communication regarding expectations and opportunities.
According to Deloitte and McKinsey, when done well, performance appraisals can directly and positively impact retention and financial outcomes. And building an infrastructure to prepare for, execute, and follow up from the performance review cycle at the close of the year can even boost employee engagement and team morale, contribute to achieving company goals, and build a more positive workplace in the years to come.
And who doesn’t want morale to increase?
When you approach the review process with a proactive, forward-thinking strategy, you empower team members to continue to perform at a high level, give them clarity on how they can improve, leverage your ability to retain top talent, and grow your skills as a leader.
Here are three key steps you should adopt to complete effective year-end performance reviews with your team.
1. Set clear, agenda-focused review meetings
A significant component of negative attitudes toward reviews is a fear of the unknown. To mitigate this, make sure you’re upfront in your communications surrounding the review itself. This will help your direct reports feel calm, collected and confident going into the process. It’ll also help to satiate any feelings of anxiety, which in turn will boost trust and create a safer space for transparent communication.
When it comes to the review itself, carve out enough time in the calendar to sit down together, whether in person or remotely, so that things don’t feel so rushed. Consider co-creating (emphasis on co-creating…) an agenda to ensure you’re both able to meaningfully prepare for the meeting, too. This will help to reduce any unwanted surprises.
Clear communication fosters trust and respect between you and your employees, and makes the review seem much less daunting.
2. Create space for employee input and reflection
Help your employee contribute to a fruitful review by tasking them with taking time in advance to reflect on their year and come to the meeting prepared to actively take part in their performance assessment. This offers them the opportunity to prepare talking points, bring forward any questions or concerns, and makes space for open dialogue.
Unsure how to direct your employee in self-reflection? Here are 10 essential feedback questions every manager should ask.
As a manager, you may think your role in an employee performance review is to talk the whole time. But it’s critical to take a back seat and give space for your employee to speak just as much as you intend (if not more). In doing so, you can discover shared understandings and tackle any issues head-on. Practicing active listening signals to your employee shows that you value their insights and respect them as a contributing team member.
3. Prepare thoroughly by gathering data throughout the year
A great way to enable employees to enthusiastically participate in the year-end review process is to take time to create a culture of feedback within your organization.
If you haven’t already, consider implementing regular 1:1 check-ins or 360 reviews to collect diverse data points throughout the year. This way, when it comes to the year-end review you don’t need to conduct an overwhelming amount of retroactive data collection in advance of the review cycle.
Looking to engage more with your employees? These 110+ conversation starters will help you connect with your whole team.
A culture of feedback helps the year-end review process feel less scary and burdensome — for both managers and employees — by establishing a structure to collect information throughout the year that can identify patterns and themes, and serve as talking points during a review meeting. It also helps diversify feedback and provide more objective insights into employee performance.
Most importantly, regular feedback like this normalizes upward feedback: and the year-end review is your opportunity as a leader to learn how you’re perceived within your management role. Setting aside some time within the performance review to solicit feedback about your own management style further contributes to a trust and respect-based relationship, and can also reveal insights into how your relationship is contributing to employee, team, and organizational goals.
Year-end reviews: Make space for what lies ahead
Sitting down with each team member to holistically examine learnings and opportunities creates a productive space within which to set actionable, achievable goals for the year ahead. And in the long run, it’s in charting the course for the future that you’ll be able to best support individuals in their career trajectories and develop a culture that thrives on growth. And as we all know, growth requires everyone to keep moving forward. As the late, great Martin Luther King Jr. once said:
“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. And, if you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
Learn more about year-end reviews, and strengthen your employee feedback initiatives with our startup manager training program.