Do’s and Don’ts of Performance Reviews
Jan 02, 2022

Most companies expect their managers to give their employees a performance review once a year. However, research by Gallup shows that only 14 percent of employees strongly agreed they were inspired to improve by their performance reviews.


So how can you offer feedback in a constructive and inspiring manner? Keep the following do’s and don’ts in mind:

  • Don’t forget to define objectives and expectations. In her article “A First-Time Manager’s Guide to Performance Reviews” for The Muse, Amy Adams advises setting SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, and time-bound — objectives at the beginning of the year. That way, your employees know what’s expected of them and can work towards it.

  • Do encourage your team to set their own individual goals. Your team members should have a good idea of what they need to learn and accomplish in order to meet your expectations. Empower them to break projects down into smaller goals so they can be sure they’re progressing. 

  • Don’t only give feedback once a year. One survey described in Andrew Martins’ Business News Daily article titled “Employees Are More Likely to Consider Quitting After and ‘Unfair’ Performance Review” stated that over 90 percent of respondents would like to receive feedback more than once every 12 months. If you provide feedback on a more frequent basis, nobody will be blindsided by what you have to say. Plus, they’ll be able to work on improvements as soon as it’s clear they’re needed. 

  • Don’t omit to prepare properly ahead of time. To provide solid feedback, you need to know what your employees have been doing over the past time period — and what the quality of their work is. Ideally, you should keep tabs on their progress during the year by making notes of what’s done well, what has been accomplished, and what needs more work. 

  • Do ask other team members for feedback. In the article “10 Key Tips for Effective Employee Performance Reviews” for The Balance Careers, Susan M. Heathfield advises that it’s important to talk to team members who work with a specific employee. This can help you obtain a better view of his or her overall performance. 

  • Don’t give unfounded feedback. Everything you state should be backed up by facts. For example, if you say an employee wrote a good report but needs to work on his or her time management skills, point out that the report was delivered a day after the original deadline. Similarly, if you have positive feedback, state exactly what the employee did well.

As a manager, it’s your responsibility to help your employees grow. By knowing what to do — and what not to do — during a performance review, you can provide constructive feedback that will empower your people to consistently improve and advance. 

Sources:
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15221-employees-more-likely-to-quit-after-unfair-review.html
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/249332/harm-good-truth-performance-reviews.aspx
https://www.themuse.com/advice/a-firsttime-managers-guide-to-performance-reviews
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/effective-performance-review-tips-1918842
14 Aug, 2023
Rephrasing the famous song, “Love is in the air”, let’s talk about change is in the air – and everywhere. We grow. We change. Look at your childhood photos. Watch your kid, your nephew, your niece. The change is there, and it’s incredible. Nature is constantly changing. We wait for summer as the time to enjoy outdoor activities and gardening, for a quick visit to the beach, or simply take time to relax and spend time with family, friends and loved ones. We wait for winter (even if we never see snow falling) to decorate the house for the holidays, pack presents for the people we love and unpack our own. The colour of the leaves changes, the weather shifts, and flowers blossom in their time – the landscape is constantly transforming. The world around us is changing. We travel to other countries and learn new things, cultures and languages. We take on new hobbies. We get new skills. After a couple of minor kitchen accidents (sometimes), we can cook delicious dishes and get compliments from family and friends. We transform our bodies at the gym or simply by creating the habit of walking every day. We meet new people, we sometimes fall in love, we build families, we have kids. And if you step back for a second, you realise you might have met your other half by pure accident. But you took a leap of faith into the unknown. We embrace many types of unknown change, except for the one that can change how we live five days a week – to change jobs. “I am too old/too young to change”, “I’m used to this environment; It’s my comfort zone”, “Well, I don’t get any promotion, and what I do doesn’t change the world, but it’s stable”, “I am afraid to ask for more interesting projects. What if my manager fires me?”. We often don’t want to change because that step requires a vision, courage, external support, and a leap of faith into the unknown. Scary? Yes. But also promising. A step into the unknown? Yes. But it can open a new door. Do your inner values marry what you do? Yes, it is essential. There is nothing terrible about staying in your comfort zone. At some stage of your career, staying put can be an excellent decision. But if you feel that you need a change – talk to Kelly. We don’t mind going the extra mile and support your wish to embrace the change. The one which will give meaning to what you do, feel proud, motivated and fulfilled. Ready for changing? We’ll make sure your talent can truly shine.
10 Aug, 2023
You’ve seen these guys before when a circus came to your city or maybe on TV. They walk on a wire at an impressive height, sometimes without insurance, sometimes with a long stick that probes the void right and left. They walk slowly, trying the wire with their toes first, making small steps, their eyes fixed on the small platform where they plan to land soon. They never watch down. They don’t listen to an audience that applauses or gasps in awe. They are concentrated on keeping their balance. To keep balance. Let’s come down from the wire above the arena or stage. Let’s look closer at balance, where it has its roots and the secrets of keeping it. Is it an art? Or is it a skill? Can you learn to keep balance? Or is it an innate skill that only gymnasts, figure skaters, circus artists and ballet dancers are born with? Want to know the secrets of a ballerina that must perform 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at a high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe? First, keeping balance is a skill people must learn for years. In ballet, sport, circus, real life, and… work life. A ballerina is taught to pick one point and to fix her eyes on it when she makes her 32 fouettes, a complex ballet movement that requires turning 360 degrees at high-speed standing on the point of a ballet shoe. She focuses on one thing that keeps her upright. She doesn’t look anywhere else. Gymnasts in some disciplines are constantly trained to feel the bar under their feet. They are prepared to land precisely on the bar after they jump, and the incredible contortions we admire in competitions. But let’s come back to the circus artists we have begun with. Often, they have a long stick in their hands to keep their balance. Is their secret hidden in the stick? And what is the secret? You don’t need to be a ballet dancer, a gymnast, or a circus artist to get the idea of balance. Here are your first two steps in your balance training: 1. Keep your main priorities in mind. And have a clear idea about what is very important for you and where you are ready to compromise. But don’t listen to external opinions that don’t align with your ideals. Forget about the audience’s applause – focus on you. 2. Use some help to stay upright and get to your goals. Imagine your life split on two ends of the helping stick, your job is on one end, and your private life is on another. How comfortable do you feel at your height now with the load on both ends? You need support. We at Kelly pay a lot of attention to balance. The balance between people’s private lives and their jobs. The balance between feeling appreciated and professional goals or between achieving extraordinary results and being inspired. Talk to Kelly today. We are not ballet coaches or sports trainers, but we know much about how important work/life balance is in our lives.
03 Aug, 2023
We often associate certain qualities with individuals who seem to possess a natural talent for creativity. We convince ourselves that painting, singing, or dancing are pursuits reserved for these "real" artists while we remain mere spectators. Creativity? Inspiration? No, it's not about me.
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