Performance appraisals are a traditional practice within most organizations, but when it comes down to it, they really don’t work. Forward-thinking organizations want their employees to be ingrained in the culture and they favor a participative work environment, but traditional performance appraisals say the exact opposite.

A traditional performance appraisal consists of the manager writing a review for their employee, and sometimes asking the employee to perform a self-review. Since most managers don’t keep track of what their employees do year-round, employee appraisals tend to be based off the most recent weeks. Often, managers dislike doing this task. Many managers feel uncomfortable judging their employees and forming opinions only on what they can remember, which can lead to managers putting this task off as long as possible. Plus, traditional performance appraisals tend to be linked to salary increases, so managers know they are limiting their employees if they rate their performance less than excellent.

Traditional performance appraisals fail to encourage true best performance, so it’s time to take a modernized approach. One technique as part of a modernized approach is getting associate input. This is the time for managers to gather feedback from an employee’s peers, direct reports, and even customers. Once the input is gathered, the manager and employee review it together and have an open dialogue about the feedback. Together, they can come up with a plan for development that will enhance the employee’s skills and knowledge.

Another part of modernized performance appraisals is holding a review more than once a year. The traditional review happened annually, but workplaces are constantly changing and growing and it’s important to gather and give feedback more regularly. When employees are made aware of things to improve upon throughout the year, they have more time for improvement. Plus, it gives the employee the opportunity to create their own goals and have realistic deadlines to meet them.

There are many other strategies for improving performance within your organization that follow a more modern approach. For more information on these strategies, contact one of our experienced recruiters today!