Annual review or monthly check-in? Journal entries, mobile alerts, or employee portals? Online chat or face-to-face meetings? Everybody has an opinion about the best way to structure the performance management process. As best practices evolve, HR software companies have responded with customizable review functions and expanded capabilities.
When you’re shopping for new HR tech, here are a few of the possibilities you’ll want to consider:
Old-style review processes placed all the cards in the manager’s hands, leaving the employee at the mercy of the supervisor’s opinion. These days, however, companies recognize the value of soliciting information from others on the team as well. Keep these options in mind as you consider your review process and the tech you’ll need to support it:
Use the self-assessment to give employees an opportunity to talk about their accomplishments, goals, and strengths. Rating scales can be helpful, but employees should also have a chance to write out their thoughts about successes, career development opportunities, and areas of growth
Many HR software platforms now include peer assessments in their performance management offering. Peer reviews may be incorporated into:
BambooHR, for example, allows managers to assign peer review requests and collect feedback so they can give helpful suggestions to each employee. It’s also a great way to keep tabs on engagement:
Of course, the meat of the assessment will come from the employee’s direct supervisor. Managers can rate employees based on performance, goals, and the feedback they have received from others on the team. Here are a few tools that help managers create the best possible assessment:
The annual review is falling out of favor in many circles, and with good reason. Reviews are more effective when they happen more frequently and ask fewer questions. That’s why some software companies have created flexible review periods, giving users the option to choose when and how often they want the review to take place.
Quarterly reviews, mid-year reviews, and monthly check-ins can all help managers get a better big-picture view of performance and engagement than annual reviews can. More frequent reviews also help employees make adjustments in their habits or goals before they veer too far off track.
The goal of a review is both to assess an employee’s performance and to find out how engaged that employee is at work. In addition to regularly scheduled performance evaluations, there are a few other times that a formal review might be called for:
Different assessment goals will require different tools. Here are a few that your software may offer:
The more flexible the software’s performance review platform is, the easier it is for companies to design a process that works within their culture. Criterion, for example, has created a performance review interface that allows companies to customize almost every aspect of the review process. Managers can set up custom review periods, review types, rating scales, goals, and competencies.
They also offer journal entries so that employees can make notes about accomplishments or observations throughout the year, which comes in handy when review time rolls around:
As you evaluate your current HR software platform, consider how you want your performance management process to look moving forward. Today’s employees want more feedback, and intentional reviews can help them feel more engaged and valued in your company. And to accurately measure employee performance, make sure your managers understand how to write a performance review.
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