Can Performance Reviews Drive Employee Productivity?

by Srikant Chellappa Aug 19,2020
Engagedly
PODCAST

The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

with Srikant Chellappa, CEO

Isn’t this a million dollar question? Well, for managers who understand how to use performance reviews not just to review their current performance but also to come up with strategies and plans to bring the best out of them, the answer is always yes.

But how can you be that manager? You need to understand a few aspects of performance management before you can expect results from it. In this article, you will find out how to make use of performance reviews to drive employee productivity.

Here is a list of best practices that can help you make the most of employee performance reviews.

Be Prepared

It is very important to understand the current performance of your employees if you want to modify it or improve it. You have to be prepared beforehand with all the relevant data and information to speak to your employees about their performance. Confidently address the performance issues of your employees and offer to help them if they need any guidance to improve themselves.

Though it sounds very easy and simple, the part where managers collect and digest the information about each individual performer on their teams is a very tedious task. Which is why you need to keep track of their performance on a regular basis, but not necessarily address them every time you monitor it.

There are many ways that you can do this. Performance management software like Engagedly allow you to keep track of the employee performance and rate their performances. At Engagedly, goals are assigned or cascaded to team members allowing the managers to keep track of their performance patterns from time to time. Know more about the feature here – Cascading Goals & Objectives.

Appreciate Their Accomplishments

The problem with most organizations is that they believe that rewarding and recognizing employees is a part of the employee engagement strategy and has nothing to do with their performance. But take our word on this, rewarding the accomplishments of your employees and supporting them is also as important as talking about the areas they need to improve themselves.

Motivate them by giving them positive feedback and telling them how valuable they are for your organization. Rewards need not always be monetary; you can send a group email to all your employees addressing their contribution to the company’s growth.

Using employee recognition software can also help you reward and recognize the accomplishment of your employees. At Engagedly, we utilize various aspects of the application like Public praise, Feedback, Discretionary points to make employees feel recognized and valuable at work.

Goals/ OKRs

Did you ever wonder why your employees are disengaged at work or aren’t productive? A very common and underrated reason for this is that they don’t have specific/ clear goals to work towards. When employee goals are not set correctly, it doesn’t just affect the employees, but also affects the overall organizational productivity.

Any employee works better when he is given a proper direction. So, set clear goals for your employees so that you can keep track if they are meeting your expectations. This is something that you need to do before performance reviews, involve your employees and set their goals. Let them come up with their own ideas about their short-term goals. You can guide them through finalizing these goals.

According to HRM Canada, 85% of workers feel they could be more efficient at work, but because of skill underutilization, do not live up to their full potential!

Using a goal software helps you easily create, assign, cascade and monitor employee goals. Engagedly’s Cascading Goals feature allows you to set goals for your direct reports and keep track of their performance.

Real-time Feedback

Managers should understand that frequent feedback not only helps employees stay engaged and productive but also helps the managers understand and keep track of their employee performance from time to time. As managers, you do not always have to wait for annual performance reviews to come to give your employee feedback. Give them immediate feedback so that they can correct and improve themselves as soon as possible if needed.

Create A Performance Improvement Plan

Once you clarify your employee’s role in the organization, it is important to make a performance improvement plan for them. This doesn’t imply that their past performance wasn’t good enough, you can always aim to improve your future performance. So use this performance review meeting to come up with a proper performance plan and set OKRs for your employees!

 


Engagedly is offering a suite of products part of its Remote Work Toolkit free to any organisation, until Sept 30th, 2020. 

The Coronavirus has affected the way we work today and for months to come. Unprecedented events require unprecedented measures. We at Engagedly believe it is our responsibility as socially conscious corporate citizens to help equip organisations with additional tools and resources during this time of crisis.


Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you improve your employee performance and make them productive? Then request for a live demo

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Author
Srikant Chellappa
CEO & Co-Founder of Engagedly

Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.

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