Performance Reviews – A Guide for Managers

For many employers, performance reviews may be just around the corner! A lot can happen and change in a year, which is why it is important to put time and effort into a performance review. Not only will it help you and your team look back and reflect on performance, but it will also allow you to talk about the opportunities ahead and set clear goals for your employees in the future.

We understand that sometimes performance reviews can be stressful for both the manager and employee, so we have developed a guide to help you navigate the performance review to make it your best one yet!

Follow the NOW WHERE HOW approach

We suggest that simply following the NOW WHERE HOW approach to performance reviews will help you and your employee get the most out of the review. Check out the table below for a guide on how these performance review meetings could be run:

NOW

WHERE

HOW

30 Minutes

Ask the staff member how they are going at the very start of the meeting. How are you feeling? How have you found the last 6 months/year?
Give them an introduction stepping through the format of the review process and setting the timeframe
Managers provide feedback to staff
Staff provide feedback to managers
Identify the gaps and training requirements

Ask the staff member to describe their personal and long-term career goals (based on the SMART model)

Even without specific job titles, have a general sense of where they are headed and why
E.g. do they want to manage people? Work with higher-profile clients? Get a promotion?

Identify possible careers within your business

What careers/internal positions interest them the most based on their self-assessment?
What careers/internal positions make best use of their assets? In what roles are they best used?

Discuss the identified training requirements from the review
Discuss how the staff member will close the gaps identified in their review
Set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals for the staff member to achieve by the next performance review cycle

Review Meeting – Tips and Tricks

Start by asking how the person is feeling, i.e. ‘are you happy at (your business’s name)?’, ‘how do you think you have gone over the last six months?’, ‘how are you feeling about this review?’
Try opening with a theme of the meeting, i.e. give some context around how the discussion will go and how the staff member has performed over the last six months
Ask the staff questions as you go, i.e. ‘what are your thoughts about this section?’, ‘any comments?’, ‘does that sound clear?’
Have a positive attitude at the start of the meeting to ensure the staff member feels relaxed
Have confidence in what you say and always have examples ready
Ensure your key messages are clear and concise
State your positive point first and then move to the constructive points
Avoid talking over the staff member when they are speaking
Discuss salary at the end of the review even if the staff member did not receive a pay rise as this will ensure they are not left with any questions regarding whether or not they received a salary increase
Ask the staff member how they are feeling at the end of the review meetings and clarify any questions they may have
Ask the staff member if anything came as a surprise during the review meeting
Ask the staff member if they have any goals they would like to add
Discuss the staff members career goals as well as their financial goals in the future
Ask the staff member if they have any feedback for you or the business

Post Review Meeting – Tips and Tricks

Check-in on your staff member post the review meeting
Ensure the staff member has booked in a check-in date to review their goals
Keep the conversation going with you staff member over the next six months to avoid any surprises in the next review period

We are always here to support you with your human resource needs. If you require any advice regarding your performance review approach, please do not hesitate to contact Lily Carafa on (03) 9069 7700 or lcarafa@mgidc.com.au

Lily Carafa

Lily Carafa is the HR Advisor at MGI Dobbyn Carafa. Lily specialises in general HR Advisory and is passionate about providing advice to businesses regarding their HR policies and procedures.