How to Make Reviews. Useful and Relevant. By Susan Tonkin. E objective will make reviews more meaningful. and relevant to employees as they create a more …

Performance Management

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

How to Make Reviews Useful and Relevant
Sieze the opportunities presented by the employee review process
By Susan Tonkin
eah, it was a review You know how those are Indifference It is the last thing an HR leader wants to overhear regarding the review process within an organization Yet this attitude toward reviews is common at organizations where individual employee goals lack alignment with overall organizational objectives For HR and training professionals, indifference is not the only pitfall to navigate with respect to performance reviews The sporadic timing of reviews can quickly create a backlog for managers, and varying standards between company divisions can make comparisons across teams difficult Reviews still tend to be more art than science, and with each individual manager using his or her own technique, employees may face wildly inconsistent feedback

A clear performance process can provide the means to connect corporate strategy with individual execution

Employee Reviews Offer Opportunity
Despite these pitfalls, performance reviews still offer an array of opportunities for HR leaders to contribute to organizational
success and prove the value of human capital management HCM Ideally, HCM delivers a system to manage the strategic people processes of global organizations This allows HR and training teams to align, develop and enable the collaboration of people A clear performance process can provide the means to connect corporate strategy with individual execution Key objectives and strategies, set by the executive team, can be cascaded throughout the organization This ensures that individuals are working on the most important goals and objectives to the success of the business, and that they have a clear view of how their efforts contribute to organizational success There is no other time in the employment experience when people are more intellectually and emotionally engaged in discussing their workplace behavior and performance than during the review process If reviews are

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not perceived as useful and relevant, HR and training leaders miss a tremendous opportunity to add value to their organization while improving the satisfaction of employees So how can reviews become more useful and more relevant?

Align Performance With Company Goals
The answer, from an organizational
perspective, is to align performance with compa-

ny goals Review processes that exist in isolation from business objectives run the risk of communicating inaccurate or contradictory information to employees However, meaningful, organizationally aligned reviews can take significant time and effort for HR professionals to effectively roll-out Like most significant changes within HR, working to align performance and organizational objectives should take place in a methodical, staged approach So where should HR begin?

Performance Management
10 Steps to a Performance-Driven Culture
To guide your work toward aligning performance reviews with organization goals, consider the 10 steps below Based on the assessment of where your organization is currently, determine what the next steps are to link employee goals closer to rewards Each step toward this objective will make reviews more meaningful and relevant to employees as they create a more direct relationship between behavior and compensation The following are 10 steps to help create a performance driven culture: 1 Assess current processes 2 Establish a plan 3 Gain executive buy-in 4 Start with a divisional pilot group 5 Establish goals
6 Ensure regular managerial and executive involvement 7 Expand to include goal alignment 8 Expand processes companywide 9 Link to rewards 10 Target individuals for further development

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

manage the review process To ensure your organization invests in technology that can deliver long-term value, ensure that your HCM solution can integrate other strategic HCM functionality such as learning management, competencies and compensation

Change management is involved, and the occasional squeaky wheel should be expected By preparing The Roll-Out senior management for these Only after a successful pilot program is comcomplaints, you will help pleted should the full company roll-out occur review process, HR build credibility and ensure When rolling-out a ne w should be aware that and training departments support for your initiative they are assuming the risk of failure Be conExecutive Buy-In
Following the completion of your plan, and a successful POC proof of concept from your technology vendor, it is time to solicit executive buy-in Do not underestimate how much work modifying the performance review process can be Change management is involved, and the occasional squeaky
wheel should be expected Moreover, management should be prepared to hear complaints from these employees By preparing senior management for these complaints, you will help build credibility and ensure support for your initiative Change management can be the most difficult part of any process change or application rollout Although HR or organizational development usually spearheads this type of project, you must have buy-in from not only executive level management, but also line of business management to drive adoption Your sponsors must understand and be willing to support performance management as an organizational priority that impacts daily processes, not a once-a-year form to be filled out, filed away and forgotten

the stage for a smoother companywide rollout In addition, at the beginning of implementing or modifying the performance review process, organizations should also consider starting with a simplified version of their ideal performance review Starting slow and adding functionality over time can help speed adoption, minimize resistance to change and provide a natural forum to work with managers as additional complexity is introduced into performance reviews

Standardize
Practices
The first step toward making reviews more meaningful within your organization is to centralize the review process for the entire company While not included in the 10 steps above, standardized practices are essential for apples-to-apples performance reviews, which are particularly important in large organizations with multiple divisions By standardizing processes through a centralized HR team, companies can avoid the inconsistencies that can occur between managers whether in the same or different business units Centralization enables a single organization to assume responsibility in determining company best practices for review techniques and technology By no means should all reviews be suddenly changed, rather, simply placing control within a single HR or training group is necessary to enable the group to reach out to other groups and begin the process of standardization

certed in your efforts to ensure your success, and avoid the temptation to rush deployments due to pressure or impatience Such actions can compromise the success of your initiatives At the conclusion of the roll-out, your company will have a fully standardized process for performance reviews linked to
organizational objectives This will enable the creation of direct links between individual employee performance objectives and specific team, group or divisional goals Moreover, through the efficiencies of HCM, this will allow HR and training organizations to evaluate and target individual employee learning needs and improve overall workforce performance

Conclusion
By creating a plan based on the steps above, HR and training leaders can deliver significant value to their organizations through the alignment of performance and company goals HR and training professionals who commit to investing the time and resources in this process can make reviews within their organizations more relevant and meaningful, cultivate a performance-driven culture, improve employee morale, and accelerate business results HC
Susan Tonkin is senior product marketing manager, performance and talent, at Saba Contact her at 650 5812500 or access the companys Web site at sabacom

Slow Start Speeds Adoption
Following HCM selection and approval, the initial changes to your performance review process should first be rolled out to a small pilot group or division This provides an opportunity to fine-tune processes
and will set

Integration
Once performance reviews are centralized, organizations should establish a plan leveraging a scalable, integrated HCM system to help

Source:ihatoday.org