Leaders, Don’t Fear The Eval! | 5 Key Things To Remember When Conducting Employee Evaluations
While employee evaluations can be somewhat of a daunting and even dreaded task for managers and leaders, they can also be one of the more effective tools in developing and leading others.
Whether you do employee evaluations quarterly, bi-annually, annually, or not at all… if done properly, they can be one of the most effective tools in leading others and helping them to reach their full potential.
“The Big 5” Of Employee Evaluations
So, let’s take a look at 5 important things to remember when performing employee evaluations.
1. Employee Evaluations Should Not Be “News”
The first point to remember when doing employee evaluations is that it should not be the first time the employee has ever heard anything about their performance, or lack thereof.
Employee evaluations should be the follow-through to what is already being taught and expected of an employee or team member.
Viewing evaluations as follow-through simply means that your critique of an individual should be a review of what you are already leading your employees to do every day.
It’s a “check-up,” if you will.
The one you’re evaluating should not be blind-sided by any of the information in a performance evaluation. If they have not been performing well, they should have known way before now.
Likewise, if they are doing a great job, they should have been praised for it way before now.
And on that note, be generous with your praise!
As in any relationship, it’s a whole lot easier for an employee to accept constructive criticism when there’s been some positive reinforcement along the way.
Unfortunately, evaluations are often used by leaders and supervisors as a way to get a point across to a subordinate that has never truly been addressed in person.
This is leadership cowardice, plain and simple.
If you can’t look an individual in the eye and have an honest conversation about what areas of their performance need improvement, then one of two things needs to happen. You should either:
A. Practice being more interactive and communicating more often with those under your supervision.
OR
B. Resign from your leadership position.
Now, there are certainly many managers that find themselves in leadership roles simply because they know a lot about a particular topic. However, knowledge alone does not make one a great leader or motivator.
For those who simply don’t think working to get better at leadership is worth the effort… do yourself and your employees a favor; resign from your position of leadership and do something you love. There is no shame here. You’ll be a better teammate and be more fulfilled when you’re doing what you enjoy.
Now, on the other hand, if effective communication doesn’t come naturally to you, but you have a desire to improve that component your leadership, remember this… you don’t get better at something by not doing it… you have to practice!
To those who find themselves in this situation, there’s good news; as I just said, most people have the ability to get better with practice.
Leadership is no different… Do you want to be a better leader? Well, courage is a muscle, and you need to use it! Practice being a better leader and better communicator. You can do it!
2. Be Honest
The second point to remember when performing employee evaluations is simple, but often neglected action…
Be Honest!
The worst thing you can do for your employees is to not be forthright.
For great leaders, integrity and honesty are paramount.
Some of the most difficult conversations are the ones where you have to tell an employee that they’re not meeting expectations. Sometimes, this even leads to dismissal, which SHOULD be difficult to do. In fact, I would question the true leadership of anyone who enjoys terminating employees.
Leaders should desire success for those they are charged with leading.
If you win, I win, WE win.
But sometimes, to be successful, tough love IS required. And when it is, you must do it effectively.
One of my mentors once told me:
“Speak the truth in love. Without truth, the message is hollow… Without love, the truth is spoken in a harsh way.”
I don’t know what else I could possibly add to that piece of wisdom.
3. Use Evals For Development And Communication
One key opportunity a leader has when performing employee evaluations is to encourage growth and development of that particular employee.
To encourage employee growth and development, you should:
- Identify strengths/weaknesses of the individual (be specific on what they do well, and where they need work)
- Pinpoint areas where additional training is needed (not just where they need training, but what specifically might help them do better in that area)
- Promote improved performance by being specific about what success looks like for the individual (what benchmarks or goals can you make them aware of as a way that they can feel they have made progress and succeeded in their growth and development?)
To develop better communication between you and the employee, you should:
- Give the employee a chance to clarify anything about your feedback they didn’t understand.
- Allow the employee to ask questions and give THEIR feedback to the constructive criticism you have provided. Making this communication a 2-way street of sorts, will lay the groundwork for effective communication moving forward. Knowing they can ask questions when they are unclear about their instructions will help them to always know what success looks like for them in their job duties.
This leads us to point #4…
4. Be Clear
One of the worst feelings for an employee is to have an employee evaluation and not know where to go from there.
As an effective leader, you need to be clear about what the expectations are.
If you have to point out poor performance, be clear about how to improve it.
If you are giving praise, be clear and specific about what you appreciate about that employee.
And, finally…
5. Follow-up
Again, this is part of the follow-through process discussed in point #1.
If you have laid out a clear plan of success for the employee, let them know along the way how they’re doing.
Most employees want to do well and improve and become more valuable to their company.
Following up with them regularly will certainly go a long way to ensuring continued improvement.
Win With Employee Evaluations
Employee evaluations can be something both the employee AND the leader can grow from.
Let’s cover those 5 Employee Evaluation To-Dos one more time:
So leaders, don’t fear conducting employee evaluations. Embrace the opportunity to teach, as well as to learn. In doing so, you will improve your organization and your leadership skills.
