Meeting with your employees a few times a year is a great way to catch up and make sure everyone is on the same page. It is equally important to be able to meet with everyone individually and help set up goals and objectives that can be used to measure their performance. You want to be like a coach supporting your employees’ professional growth.
Employee Goals and Company Goals
One of the first things to do when creating an evaluation is to make sure that each employee’s goals are aligned with the company’s business plan. It is extremely valuable to sit down with the employee and ask them about their goals and work with them to create a list of goals. This makes the process feel less alienating, and the collaboration encourages the employee to take ownership of their efforts.
Include Learning Objectives
While sales goals and other quantitative benchmarks certainly will form the basis for many employee performance plans, it is a good idea to include learning objectives as well to encourage employee growth and engagement. Examples include training and skill enhancement such as conflict resolution, leadership development, activities related to construction or development, safety and loss control, and community outreach.
Ongoing Communication
As the employee’s plans are formed, it becomes necessary to have ongoing communication with them about these goals and their performance. This can take the form of a monthly or quarterly report that you update to provide feedback throughout the year as the employee progresses toward achieving the goals. Try not to overwhelm your employee with too many reports since it takes a considerable amount of time to put these together. In most cases, monthly reports are a good way to measure growth and development.
Periodic Meetings to Review Progress
In many companies, performance reviews are an annual practice. However, adding periodic reviews throughout the year is a great way to reinforce your plans. By having more than one review period, you are providing an opportunity for you and your employees to reflect and make adjustments to their goals. This can lead not only to higher performance but also to more engaged employees.
