Employee engagement: How to enhance your performance appraisal
The mere mention of a performance appraisal can be enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine, but there is no denying that these can be highly effective - if used in the right way.
Unfortunately, many organisations either don’t have an HR appraisal system in place at all or they use an ineffective annual appraisal, which is often no more than a tick box exercise. With a recent Gallup report revealing that traditional performance reviews and approaches to feedback actually make performance worse 30% of the time, it’s clear that there’s room for improvement.
The problem with annual staff appraisals
If an employee is lacking motivation and becoming actively disengaged by the minute, the ‘once a year’ appraisal is often too infrequent to help get them back on track. By this time, they are probably either halfway out the door or they have already found the nearest exit.
Once a year appraisals are simply ineffective; especially for millennials who have different expectations of their working environment. This generation group are big advocates for communication and real-time feedback, and without meeting these needs, employers could easily find themselves struggling with retention.
What’s the solution?
A much more focused and beneficial approach is to offer regular feedback, which is something many forward-thinking organisations are already doing. Among those are corporate giants, Deloitte and Netflix, who have recently ditched the annual performance review altogether in favour of a new approach that provides continuous feedback for a real-time view of performance and attainment.
Smarter appraisals simply make more sense and if you want to keep your staff happy, it is worthwhile considering these for multiple reasons, including:
- Improved employee engagement
According to Gallup, employees who strongly agree that they can link their goals with the organisation’s goals are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged. Essentially, when employees experience personal meaning through their work, engagement soars – and a great way to ensure this is to provide frequent positive feedback.
It goes without saying that employees like to feel valued, and by acknowledging their triumphs and helping them work through their challenges, they are more likely to feel a new sense of energy and enthusiasm for their role. Ensure your performance reviews provide a regular platform for staff recognition, constructive feedback, growth and development. By doing this, you will not only help to improve their engagement with the company but also their role in general. After all, greater engagement leads to better overall performance, so it really is a worthwhile investment.
- Better met training needs
It is easier to identify staff training and development requirements when feedback is regular and consistent. Not only does this allow managers to identify any skills gaps, but it also helps to ensure employees feel that their development is important.
It can also be useful for recruitment, as by identifying training needs and developing staff, it can make it easier for the business to fill roles internally. These days, employees are not just concerned about how much money they are earning; many (especially Millennials) are looking for opportunities to develop. Taking action to identify the training needs of your staff and invest in their career progression will help to promote greater loyalty to your organisation in the long-term, thus boosting employee retention.
- Enhanced communication levels
If you only sit down to an appraisal once a year, it’s unlikely that communication is as effective as it could be within your organisation. It’s important to ensure regular communication with your employees, as this can strengthen the relationship you have with them. Regular performance reviews can make individuals feel included and they can also help to ensure any issues are raised before they become a serious problem. A lack of communication is one of the key reasons for unhappiness in the workplace, so by using smarter appraisals, you can help to ensure your employees feel involved and truly part of the organisation.
Appraisals should always be positive and instead of the rigid annual appraisal, why not make them enjoyable and something for employees to look forward to? Use them as a time to recognise your workers, share ideas and strengthen the relationship you have with them. If you do this consistently across your workforce, you can guarantee you will have a happier and more productive workforce in the long run.
Learn how you can transform your organisation into a place where employees are engaged and want to stay by visiting our Employee Experience Hub.
You can also get a demo with our friendly team to find out more about our leading HR performance management software.
