Performance reviews are excellent assets when they are done right. Carried out wrong, however, they can destroy morale, hinder productivity and breed a toxic, competitive company culture that has people constantly looking over their shoulder. The real purpose of feedback is not to offer criticism, though that can have its place too. Instead, feedback is an opportunity for management to provide guidance and support while steering workers toward the company's objectives. So before your next performance review period, keep these feedback tips in mind for long-standing results.
Make Sure You Have the Right Tools
You can't analyze someone's performance if you only ever see the result. There may be errors or delays that derive from unseen obstacles. Rather than solely looking at the effect, pinpoint the cause so you can bring it up during your meeting. For example, fleet managers shouldn't aim to tell a driver to stall less unless they know precisely what's causing them to idle in the first place. This guide on the various dash cams can help you choose the perfect truck camera system for your fleet. Investing in-dash cams is a good way for businesses to understand their drivers better and offer more personalized feedback on performance.
The same goes for any other division as well. Activity monitoring in office work, IT, and programming can help you discern where workers are getting stuck. You may also realize there are more external factors that need your attention, be it poor task assignment, unclear directives, or too many workplace distractions.
Always Lead with Strengths
People work better when they know their worth and believe in themselves. In the office setting, that stems directly from interactions with coworkers and acknowledgment from management. A job well done that goes completely unnoticed may feel like no job at all. If you expect employees to always give their best, you need to demonstrate that you appreciate what they bring to the table. Start any performance review with a compliment. Even if there is more to discuss on the negative side of things, people will be far more receptive if you build up their strengths first.
Collaborate Rather Than Command
On the same note of strengths, there is great potential to foster greater collaboration and teamwork in your business. Instead of ordering someone to do their job a particular way, ask for their input. If your accountant seems to be getting bogged down with reports, ask them how you could help them perform faster. Maybe they could thrive by relaying information through informative presentations each month rather than writing wordy summaries.
The more you know your employees, the better you can help them improve their performance. Ultimately, your company's goal should not just be to meet its objectives at all costs. Instead, it should be to help the people who make your business happen each day become the most confident, practical versions of themselves. Through training incentives, routine follow-ups, and targeted feedback, you can help workers grow while simultaneously scaling your profits.
