Most managers complain about the employee review process being too cumbersome and saddled with forms that are too long. Keeping the form to one or two pages can be a huge relief for managers and senior leaders who don't want managers spending hours upon hours filling out the paperwork. Can a one or two pager be effective? You bet it can. Start by including the most essential information:
- Strengths: Include 2 - 5 areas of strength, describe supporting examples (be specific), identify the positive impact (show the employee how the strength adds value) and connect the strength to a competency (you should develop 6 - 8 performance competencies that describe expected performance and behavioral standards in your organization). See a sample competency model.
- Areas for Development: Include 1 - 3 areas for growth for this individual. Think about the one area that if developed would have a positive impact on the employee's future contributions. Describe what it is you want to have happen. Describe the specifics (what would it look like). Describe why developing this performance area is important/how it will add value. Connect the area with a performance competency.
- Goals: Areas for development should be translated into goals that are SMART (Specific, Relevant, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound). Behavior based goals can and should be translated into SMART goals.
- Review Previous Goals/Objectives: Create an area to review past goals and objectives. Use your judgement for where this should be placed on your form. Most likely you will want to review this first. Be sure to update the goals when objectives and work priorities change. With the pace of change in the workplace today goals can get stale quickly!
- Document Name: Aside from being from the post industrial era, the terms Evaluation, Appraisal and Review strike fear into the heart of most managers and employees. For a more collaborative employee centric form title we use the term Performance Conversation & Planning Map. Experiment and see what you can come up with.
See a sample 1 page employee review document (note: it's one page before completion; with the manager's comments it will be longer)
See an employee review document showing sample content
Sample Self Appraisal This much we know: employees HATE filling out the self review form. Here's a format that doesn't feel like the typical self appraisal. It's more progressive. This form isn't a mirror image of the manager's form. Instead it allows the employee to collect his or her thoughts and create some meaninful talking points to add to the performance conversation.
Automated Performance Tools: OK, so above we've offered some sample forms in a paper-based format. We recognize that most oranizations have moved to automated systems. We've seen some robust tools that are available – such as Halogen's employee performance appraisal software - we like it because it's flexible enough to incorporate ANY organization’s format and process while automating the entire workflow. It makes monitoring and reporting much easier for HR.