Year-end Performance Reviews

- Amanda

The year-end review process can feel pretty arduous. Let's face it, it's the end of the year, you are tired from wrapping up large projects, offices have closures, and people start thinking about taking some time off. Prepping an important document, taking on quite a bit of paperwork, and having a serious discussion with each employee can feel overwhelming.

However, this meeting is the culmination of what you have been working on with the employee all year. You want to give the end-of-year review the attention it deserves. Remember that this meeting is important to your employees, and you must resist any temptation to take shortcuts in the process.

Different companies have different formats for reviews. In my experience, there is always a place to evaluate the yearly goals and a general section and summary. 

Goals

In the year-end review, you summarize if your employee achieved their goals for the year. Evaluation is pretty straightforward if the goals are written clearly. You should have examples listed for each of your decisions. For instance, if you have hit expectations for a goal, you should list specific projects or actions that support that rating.

Usually, the year-end review documents also have general and summary sections. One summary the employee fills out and one that the manager fills out. The manager will usually receive the employee's response. Some managers read the employee's answer and almost frame their review as a response to what their staff member wrote. I do not like to use this method because I do not want to be biased by what the employee wrote. I will wait to read what the employee said until I have finished my assessment. This allows me to look for deltas in perceptions for the year without bias. 

If you do have deltas, then be sure you can address them with data in the meeting. Your role expectations should be clear enough that there is no misunderstanding, but deltas do come up nonetheless.

Situation 1

The most challenging situation is when your employee thinks they did better than your assessment of their year. Perhaps they hit all their role expectations and a few other things and expect a big raise and promotion. Maybe they did not hit their role expectations but think that something else they accomplished compensates. This is when the documented role expectations for the next level come in handy. When you are aligning with the employee, you need to be kind and very direct. 

"Sam, you had a great year, and I really see you improving in your role. However, there are a few more things we need to work on next year to ensure that you will be successful at the next level. We will add those to your goals next year."

Situation 2

In this situation, you have an employee who hit or exceeded expectations but did not think they did enough or undersells their contributions. Never feeling like they have done enough is a common trait for high achievers. In this case, it is up to you to provide details on all the great things the employee accomplished during the year. 

The undersell is the behavior we identified in the 'getting to know your employees article'. This happens when an individual discounts something they are good at because it comes easily to them. 

In this case, you need to use this evaluation time to help build up, motivate and energize the employee. You want to get them excited for the following year.

Situation 3

The easiest review is when there is agreement on the assessment and alignment on where the resource sits within their level. This alignment can happen with a resource that has not hit expectations, has hit, or has exceeded. In this case, the review is mostly paperwork, and you can start talking about goals for the next year. 

In each situation, you should let the employee know if you identified behaviors or hidden talents that are a particular asset to your organization. Look for these traits throughout the year, sometimes they are not obvious but have the potential to increase the effectiveness of your organization. For example, you might see in a software demo that a programmer has impressive presentation skills. Write this down and discuss it with the employee. A newly identified skill or talent can be a key to new opportunities for the individual and your organization.