Employee Reviews

Most managers hate giving reviews. Reviews should really be intended more like a counciling session where employees can be made aware of what they have done well, and where there is room for improvement. This should be done in a positive professional manner. Also some career counciling and feedback from employees about where they would like to see their career grow should be given.

Performance Measurement and Evaluations

Objectives of the organization determine what to measure and important measurement characteristics. Factors affecting performance measurements:

Objectivity
Completeness
Ability of members to influence the manager.
Cost of measurement

Feedback is required to tell if measurement is effective and correct. It is widely said that "A company gets what it inspects, not what it expects."

Types of evaluations:

Objective based - This can be in an essay form or on a rating scale. It can be based on one or more of the following:

Based on traits the employee seems to exhibit.
Write down critical incidents (observations) of on the job performance
Based on Mnaagement by Objectives (MBO) and how well objectives were met.
Based on set work standards and how well these were met.

Behavior - Based on the number of jobs done. This is hard to do for development and research personnel.

Measurement Degrees

When evaluating employee traits, measurement degrees can be used. Here are some commonly used methods to express degree of performance or traits.

Excellent
Very good
Good - Average
Fair - Below expectations
Unsatisfactory

Evaluated Traits

The list below is a set of traits that may be evaluated during the time of reviews. The relative value of these traits will vary from organization to organization and depend on the type of work being done. Therefore the weights of these various traits may not be equal and some may have a major effect on the review while others are minor.

Initiative

Takes action without instruction.
Pursues appropriate goals.
Persistance and follow through.
Dedication
Courage

Innovation

Original ideas
Value of ideas

Dependability

Punctuality
Reliability and Stability - How much supervision is required?
Consistant attendance
Attempts to meet schedules - Timeliness of work.
Use of time - Planning

Interaction with others

Cooperation - How well do they take direction?
Interaction with customers
Sharing knowledge with others
Concern for others and helping others (peers and supervisors).
Acceptance of direction.

Job Knowledge

Current Knowledge required for job.
Effectiveness in acquiring new knowledge.
Knowledge of market if applicable.

Skills

Written Communication
Oral Communication
Listening - Receptiveness to ideas.
Response to written or verbal communication.
Flexibility and adaptability
Problem solving - Judgement. How quickly do they reach sound decisions? How good are their decisions?

Performance

Quality - Accuracy, neatness, thoroughness, and completeness of work. Attending to detail.
Quantity - Level of effort

Leadership

Organization
Foresight/Planning
Confidence

Other items that may be measured include:

Attitude - Job interest
Maturity
Intelligence
Conceptualizing
Implementing
Political skills

Items that may be mentioned in a section to aid employee development include:

Strengths
Weaknesses - What can be improved upon.
Accomplishments
Dissappointments

Conclusions

The method used to evaluate employees depends on your needs, organizational type, and types of jobs being evaluated. Also the cost and ability to measure performance is a great factor. The ideas listed on this page should help you decide what is worth measuring in your organization. The most important part of employee reviews is to be fair to all and approach the subject with the correct attitude of helping the employee improve.