Performance Evaluations

1 year ago

The great debate…to conduct performance evaluations or not…

Just prior to Covid-19, many employers were moving away from formal performance evaluations to providing more immediate feedback to employees. With additional generations of employees entering the workplace, employers were reconsidering how they provide feedback.

Immediate feedback is extremely helpful, when possible. Whether it’s positive or constructive feedback, it allows for improved morale, early course correction, if necessary, and keeps you connected to your employees. It also allows you to talk about these items when they are fresh in your memory and the employee’s memory. But we are not quite ready to totally ditch the performance evaluation…

At Southwestern HR Consulting (SWHRC), we recommend conducting evaluations annually with at least quarterly check-ins. If you have individual monthly update meetings with your staff, this is also the opportune time to provide ongoing feedback to your employee. The formalized performance evaluation helps when tying the employee’s performance to merit increases. Doing so is not only helpful to show the employee how their performance is directly tied in with the raise they received, but in the event an individual files a claim that they were discriminated against based on their protected class when they received their raise, you will have the documentation showing exactly why they received the raise you gave them or didn’t give them. In addition, it helps to support any disciplinary action you might take in the future by showing the issues you are beginning to have with the employee and that you have addressed them. Documentation of your discussions in the monthly or quarterly meetings also provides the same support. Remember, more is better when it comes to providing feedback.

SWHRC can provide you with customized evaluations to create a meaningful and purposeful process that is streamlined for your needs. Consider contacting us at SWHRC to discuss what support we can offer your organization.