How Often Should You Conduct Performance Reviews?

Is your company conducting annual reviews?

Traditionally, employee performance review meetings are done annually – but in many cases, that’s not enough.

I help companies implement the performance management processes they use to review and implement their strategy. One of the biggest problems I see is that companies aren’t discussing performance on a regular basis.

I recommend having frequent conversations about individual performance – as often as quarterly or even monthly – so both the employee and the manager can keep up with changing goals and priorities in the workplace, and there aren’t any surprises on either side.

Companies’ performance goals and priorities change all the time, and annual performance reviews tend to be too static and not agile enough. By meeting more frequently, companies can also make sure employees are clear on what the expectations are and how they should move forward.

Annual performance reviews can create an enormous amount of pressure for employees. When you only receive formal feedback once a year, stakes can seem extremely high. Employees might feel stressed out by hearing about everything they’ve done wrong in the past twelve months, and managers could be struggling to find the right balance of positive feedback with opportunities for improvements.

Having regular check-ins virtually eliminates surprises and makes it easy for your team members to know if they're on track, so they can course-correct as needed instead of feeling the build-up of the pressure of one single annual review.

Instead of being one-way conversations, performance reviews should always be two-way dialogues about aligning activities with higher-level corporate objectives. Managers should be clear about expectations and how the activities of an individual employee align with the larger goals of the organization.

Expected results should also be clear, as well as how performance will be measured and monitored.

Performance reviews should not make employees feel like they’re on trial. More frequent reviews that are two-way conversations allow managers and employees to explore what's going well, what isn't going so well, and then focus on what needs to happen in the future to achieve success (for the employee and for the organization as a whole).

With regular reviews, employees and managers can also establish additional support, resources, and training the company can provide to enable optimal performance.

To learn more about performance appraisal and how to conduct better reviews, check out my website or subscribe to my YouTube channel.