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It's that time of year again when we review all of our employees at my property management company.  It's a process that we all dread because of the time and effort and the potential for people to get sideways with each other.  Here is some simple advice that I found helpful about performance reviews:

Performance reviews should be a great opportunity for employees to find out what they are doing well and which areas they need to improve. However, most employees dread the process because too often it is not done well.

The problem usually occurs because a company does not have a system in place that guides both the manager and the employee in the discussion. The process doesn't have to be very formal—you simply need to make sure the terms of the review are defined clearly so both manager and employee know what is expected. You need agreement on the measures of performance so there are no surprises. And your managers need to concisely articulate both these factors to your employees.

Here are four steps to follow:

1. Carefully review what your expectations are for the job. Can they be quantified, such as number of accounts managed or the number of customers served? Quantitative measures cover what is being done, but they are also important to identify how it is being done. For instance, requiring staff to return customer calls within a certain time period will help communicate your expectations on how they should treat customers.
2. Communicate these expectations to your employees. These don't have to be formal or fancy. You can, for example, tell them the company's "Five Rules for Excellence," or you can put it into a written document.
3. Have a scheduled time of review. Monthly, quarterly, or annually is up to you, but establish a time frame, tell your employees, and hold to it.
4. Conduct the review as you would like one conducted for yourself. Schedule it ahead of time and find a place where you won't be interrupted. Send a message to your employees that this is an important process. They will feel more important. If done right, they probably won't hate performance reviews.

Bob Kustka
HR Consultant
The Fusion Factor
Boston

Source: BusinessWeek.com