Organizations will always need a way to track their progress and address problems that their employees are facing in their workplaces. For a long time, businesses have been relying on annual reports, which paint a picture of exactly what has been happening in the business in the last one year. However, it has been noted that annual reports have been disengaging employees, stressing managers and also, they do not provide an accurate picture of how things really are in the workplaces.

In the place of annual reports, business today have resulted to employee performance review programs, which seem better focused in providing the exact information business executives are in need of. Performance review programs can be used to address any faults in workplaces, as well as showcase the methods that employees can employ to increase productivity.  Here are some performance review best practices a business can focus on to produce the best performance review program:

Do it continuously and not annually

Employee evaluation programs are more effective when they are implemented more often than just once in a year. Statistics show that almost 50% of HRs do not believe in the findings of annual performance reviews and so, will not take the results as accurate enough to appraise an employee’s performance.

Again, more than 90% of HR managers are not satisfied with the way their organizations conduct their annual performance reviews. In place of annual reports, it is more practical for a business to have shorter reports that are goal-focused throughout the year, maybe after every 2 to 3 months. This way, even managers will be less stressed in preparing the reports and the report will provide a more accurate and updated information about employee performance.

Make the program goal-oriented

Another one of employee performance review best practices is to ensure that goals are the basic foundation of employee performance review program. Performance in every department should always revolve around employee’s goals. This way, managers will be able to schedule their performance reviews around objectives and deadlines. This is what will ensure that there is a clear focus for every meeting and conversation the business holds to review employee performance. In such meetings, there will be real examples to review, accomplishments to talk about and mistakes that should be avoided moving forward.

Tackle mistakes as soon as they arise

It is never easy for managers or employees to talk about mistakes, which is why they are usually pushed aside until that time that the manager will feel is right for such a conversation. In most cases, negative reviews are never included in employee progress review. While this may seem as an easier thing to do for the benefits of everyone, what the manager is doing is that he is damaging his team since they may never learn from their mistakes. A good employee performance review process should include both the positive and the negative feedback. When a mistake arises, it should be dealt with as soon as possible for the team to move forward with no hope of repeating it.