In this fast-paced and rapidly evolving professional world, there’s one thing (possibly the only thing) most of us in HR can agree on: There’s no such thing as a perfect performance review. No matter how much tweaking a review protocol undergoes and how perfect it may seem in theory, in actual practice it rarely fulfills its promises of turning each employee into a happy engine of productivity. Even a performance review that works perfectly for one employee may not work for another, and even a protocol that works like a charm during one review cycle will be oddly inadequate by the time another year rolls around.

So as you polish and update your performace review process year after year, there are two things that you’ll  need to keep in mind above all others: 1.) Your efforts will never result in perfection…but you’ll need to adjusting, changing, and pursuing perfection anyway. And 2.) as you do this, you’ll need to stay focused on the only goal that really matters—employee development.

Employee Development Versus Grades

In school, children are graded at the end of every semester. Their performance is now in the past, and they stand by for an assessment of how well they completed the tasks assigned to them. In this context, the final grade provides an incentive that will motivate the student during the next semester, and it gives the student’s parents a chance to see how well she’s doing and what interventions might help her do better. That’s a great system…in a school.

But the working world, school is over. Employees aren’t being monitored by their parents, and how “well” they performed during the past six months doesn’t directly translate into how much they’ll contribute during the next six. Employers who are stuck on the after-the-fact-grading-model are missing the point. Assessment should be about improving productivity, moving forward, and helping a company get the most out of the talent, skill sets, and personality traits of its human capital. Reviews shouldn’t just assign a numerical value to a person or to events that have already taken place. 

Rework Your Evaluation Goals

An effective overhaul of a review system should start with a revision of basic goals. Go back to the source and make sure that every question and assessment metric serves the purpose of building productivity in the year ahead. Questions and metrics that don’t serve this purpose should be replaced or adjusted until they add real value to each employee’s development and progress.

As you make these adjustments, account for each employee’s current contributions and personal ambitions. Make sure excellent employees are still being encouraged to grow, and make sure that high growth employees are recognized for their progress, regardless of a low starting point.

As you rework your assessment model, reach out for professional guidance from the staffing pros at Expert. We have the HR experience and insights you need to get the most out of every one of your valuable employee relationships.