Make year-end reviews purposeful

In a formal evaluation the feedback should be relevant and specific, with examples for good and bad points. Employee strengths should be acknowledged, and corrective action needed in weak performance areas should be identified.

Year-end reviews are an excellent time to not only look back on accomplishments, but to also look ahead and set challenging and specific goals. As a manager, you need to give your employees constructive feedback.

Annual or semi-annual performance reviews give you the opportunity to praise employees for what they've done well, correct what they're doing wrong, and discuss your vision for their growth and future at the company.

The ideal outcome for a performance appraisal is for managers and employees to have meaningful, reflective conversations together. It's a chance to document the year's accomplishments, understand expectations and celebrate progress.

While face-to-face conversations and regular informal feedback should always be included in the review process, the written review is an important tool to help your staff find out where they stand. An employee can refer back to this document to make sure he or she is staying on track between now and the next review period.

For this reason, it's especially important to make sure the reviews you hand over to your team members are thorough, well-written and easy to understand. Make it comprehensive. A well-written performance review covers all the bases of an employee's work. It shouldn't be all positive or all negative - a healthy balance of both is necessary to help your team members evolve in their roles.

In a formal evaluation the feedback should be relevant and specific, with examples for good and bad points. Employee strengths should be acknowledged, and corrective action needed in weak performance areas should be identified.

Feedback

Year-end or mid-year formal reviews shouldn't be the only time employees receive feedback about their performance. There shouldn't be any surprises when employees read their reviews from the boss. Employee feedback should be given throughout the year as and when performance issues, good or bad, arise.

A formal evaluation is ideally a recap of things that have been addressed during the year. When there is a problem with an employee's habits or actions, address it as soon as possible after the incident occurs to avoid bringing that tension into the evaluation.

If an employee's behaviour (positive or negative) doesn't warrant immediate feedback, make a note of it and use it as a reference point during a formal or informal performance discussion. Give honest, constructive criticism. It's never easy to tell an employee what he or she needs to do to improve, but giving constructive criticism about your team member's performance is an important part of the review process.

Be as clear and direct as possible about any shortcomings and mistakes, but also take the time to provide solutions to those problems. Fully explain what the issue is, and then expand on the options for improvement.

Poor performers

If there have been any serious performance issues, the best approach is to ask the employee open-ended questions, such as "How did you see it?", "What would you suggest?" or "Did you get the result you wanted?"

Most employees work hard and want to do the right thing. Asking open-ended questions can start an honest conversation that allows both sides see each other's perspective and realize why the other reacted in a certain way.

Questions can create positive discourse when two sides see things differently. Encourage discussion about the review. Most managers agree that it's frustrating when an employee has nothing to say in response to his or her performance evaluation.

Push your employees to give you feedback on the issues you raise. The written review should be a brief but direct overview of discussion points, making for a more nuanced face-to-face conversation; this needs employee feedback.

If the conversation begins to get heated and you want to avoid saying something that you might regret, put the dialogue on hold. You can continue a more serious discussion later via email or at another meeting, after the employee has had a chance to cool down.

Always end performance reviews on a positive note. Encourage your employees and lett them know you appreciate what they do for the company will give an added boost to a primarily good review, or lift your employee's spirits after a somewhat negative evaluation. Positive phraseology and reinforcement go a long way in giving workers the confidence and drive they need to perform even better.