The Real Purpose of Employee Reviews

The purpose of an employee review is not to ‘fix’ behavior once a year. If an employee has poor behavior, less than adequate performance or attitude problems, don’t wait a year to fix them. Regular on-going coaching can not be replaced with an annual employee review. 

There are a number of positive benefits to an employee review and there are number of disadvantages to not conducting routine reviews. 

Advantages of reviews:

• They give the employee the opportunity to better understand expectations, standards and rules.
• They give the manager an opportunity to ‘get to know’ the employee better.
• They give the employee the opportunity to learn what behaviors and attitudes they need to improve or modify.
• They send a message to the employee that you care about their performance as well as them as a person.
• They can help you chart a better course for the future of the employee.
• They can help the manager identify weaknesses and strengths that may not have surfaced on a day by day basis.

Disadvantages of irregular or no reviews:

• They send a message that you are satisfied with performance, attitudes and behavior.
• They say to the employee they are not important enough for you to take the time for a review.

SOURCE: Tim Connor, Connor Resource Group, February 22, 1999.