“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” (Stephen R. Covey, author of ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’)

Good business leaders recognise that regular employee performance reviews play a vital role in improving transparency, identifying talent, and enhancing performance – yet often this process is handled in a casual fashion or even not implemented at all. In fact, a recent study revealed that only 13% of employees and managers, and only 6% of CEOs, think their organisation's performance appraisal system is useful. Even worse, 88% of respondents said their current performance review negatively impacted their opinion of the HR department.         

Here are six tips for turning those opinions around and getting maximum value from your performance reviews.        


Tip 1: Really listen

During a review it’s vital that the employee feels truly understood. Data shows that leaders who come to reviews with preconceived notions and a list of complaints are more likely to have unhappy teams. A massive 85% of employees would consider quitting if they thought their review to be unfair – and there is no surer way of making someone feel unfairly treated than to brush off their side of the story and make them feel unheard.       

Companies should therefore focus on getting their leaders to:

• actively listen to employees during reviews
• avoid making assumptions
• ignore distractions such as phone calls
• pay attention to verbal and nonverbal cues.

Tip 2: Be transparent       

Because performance reviews are often linked to raises and other benefits, it’s extremely important that the employee understands exactly why certain decisions were made. Giving clear, fair, specific and actionable feedback allows the employee to see how they can get a better raise next year and what they need to do to gain a promotion. Vague or unclear feedback only leads to distrust of the system – and of the company’s HR and leadership.     

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