Routine employee evaluations are a fundamental part of building relationships with the people we serve. Often in the busyness of our schedules and problem solving, we do not take the time to sit down and listen or give our team members time to talk. The employee evaluation is often viewed as a box to check off or an obligation to fulfill, but it is much more than that. When done properly, the employee evaluation has great potential with much meaning and purpose.
Setting aside this time will give us opportunity to care for our employees on a more personal level. We can use our position as a business leader to touch their lives in a positive way. There have been times in an evaluation when an employee has shared about challenges they are facing at home, a large purchase they are working on, or maybe a death in the family that has been challenging to work through. If we have a kind heart for our employees and a willingness to listen, we will be able to build the relationship on more than just business.
In this article, I will show you the importance of evaluations, best practices for an evaluation, and potential issues with employee evaluations.
The importance of employee evaluations
An employee evaluation done well helps to build a strong relationship with a team member. Our willingness to sit down and listen to what they have to say and to give specific feedback develops trust and openness with that team member. By creating time for an evaluation, we can seek to understand issues they may be facing and to gain a unique perspective of the organization we lead.
An evaluation is also an opportunity for honest feedback both from the employer and the employee. Showing an interest in their lives and listening to their feedback ultimately helps to create loyalty in our leadership and the organization we represent. Team members may feel like their work has become mundane, or they may be worn out from constant problem solving. The employee evaluation is our prime opportunity to recast vision for their future and the future of the organization they serve.
An evaluation can also be a time to show the team member the progress the organization is making and the part they have played in that progress, to hopefully inspire them. In short, a lot of positive outcomes can come out of a routine employee evaluation. I believe it is worth the time and the financial investment to build a better relationship and gain an understanding of a team member.
Best practice for employee evaluations
What are some tips for preparing for an employee evaluation? I like to get feedback from those who work closely with the team member, such as a direct manager. I also pull any reports that may indicate their performance over the last year.
Going into the evaluation, I prefer to take along a written summary for the employee to read and to take with them when the evaluation is completed. This written summary includes a description of their current role, how they excelled in this role, and what we as a leadership team appreciate about them. I also note any progress on past goals, as well as any areas of improvement that we have discussed in the past. It is a good idea to leave some room for the employee to take notes, write new goals, or list new areas of improvement that we discuss during this evaluation. Afterwards, I make my own additional notes that came out of the evaluation and then file it away for future review.
Another important part of preparing for the evaluation is to give some thought to your preferred style. Some people prefer a systematic question and answer style evaluation, while others prefer a more conversational approach. My personal preference is the conversational style of evaluation. It keeps the conversation more casual and helps the employee stay more at ease. With a more casual approach, the topics I want to cover often come up organically as opposed to covering a checklist.
To help the conversation flow smoothly, I like to think of some great questions to ask ahead of time. Some examples could include: What are you enjoying outside of work at the moment? Has your work schedule given the time you need to find fulfillment outside of work? What are some likes and dislikes of your job? From your perspective, is there something our organization could do differently or improve upon to serve each other or our customers better? Try to ask open ended questions that require more than “yes or no” answers.
Additionally, ask follow-up questions and allow the employee time to talk. Great listening skills are essential for a successful evaluation. Be engaging and attentive. If the employee senses you are not listening and understanding them, they will be less likely to share their struggles and give valuable feedback.
Let’s shift focus to the practical side of an evaluation. It’s important to schedule a specific time for this, so you are not tempted to fill the time with other pressing things and keep bumping the evaluation down the road. You might want to schedule the evaluation away from the office to promote a relaxed and distraction-free environment. I enjoy meeting with the employee over breakfast or lunch.
If the employee has a schedule to keep or quotas to fill, be sure to make arrangements for their schedule so they do not feel like they have to give short answers to get back to their tasks. Also, invite their direct manager along if the employee reports to someone other than yourself. It can be good to have two people in management be a part of employee evaluations. Discuss the evaluation with their direct manager ahead of time so you are on the same page before going into the evaluation.
As I mentioned previously, start out the conversation with a few questions about their personal life. These questions may include topics such as their family, hobbies, current interests, professional development, and current challenges they may be facing. One of my favorites at the moment is, “What are you loving right now?”
If the employee does choose to open up with you, this is a wonderful opportunity to build trust. They may share a struggle that would otherwise not have come up in the day-to-day operations. If we take a tone of indifference and brush off their struggle, they will come away feeling unheard and uncared for. On the contrary, if we take time to ask follow-up questions, listen, understand, and offer suggestions, they will come away with a positive experience.
The goal of an evaluation is to focus on the employee’s potential and to keep the tone encouraging. Review the employee’s current position and how it affects the overall mission of the organization. Highlight areas of growth in their performance. Maybe they made progress on a specific numbers goal or excelled at a specific task that contributed to overall organizational success. If there were goals set at their last evaluation, recap the progress that has been made. (I would highly recommend not waiting until an evaluation to recap progress on a goal. It is important to give the employee feedback on specific goals throughout the year as growth is achieved.)
Along with this, help the employee create a vision for their future—what goals and dreams do they may have? Maybe they want to learn a new skill or work towards a promotion. It shows our care of them if we take the time to help them map out a strategy for achieving the results they desire. When we help them to succeed, they will help the company succeed.
An employee evaluation is also a prime opportunity for you to give some professional coaching and encouragement. How might constructive criticism be handled during a yearly evaluation? An evaluation might feel like the best time to bring up areas that need improvement. While this may be true, it is extremely important to not “save up” our list of grievances for this yearly evaluation! When an employee is struggling in a particular area, address these areas throughout the year as they take place. This allows for specific examples that make sense to the employee, as well as the ability to give real-time feedback. That being said, if there are major areas of concern that need addressed, the evaluation is an opportunity to discuss the issues in a productive way. The focus should always be on the future and to help the individual.
A helpful approach in giving critique may be to emphasize what is best for the employee, their team, and the organization. Consider Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” The goal of criticism is growth; it is for building up the other person with grace and humility. We should carefully consider our words when critiquing, and make sure they are words that build up and encourage.
There can also be a tendency to be “too nice.” When addressing an issue, be clear and concise so as not to leave the employee guessing at what you are trying to say. For myself, I have found it helpful to approach an issue with a heart of kindness. A “nice” person will steer around an issue to avoid offending or causing conflict, but a “kind” person is willing to have a hard conversation with someone because improvement in that area will make them a better individual.
A Bible verse that supports kind, constructive criticism would be the classic Golden Rule; Matthew 7:12, “ So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Place yourself in the employee’s shoes; if you were doing something incorrectly that negatively affects your performance and/or income, would you not hope someone would have the courage to tell you? How often we create frustration for an employee by holding them back from a promotion or a raise, but not communicating the reason for doing this!
If our approach is kind, they will sense our sincerity and appreciate our willingness to point out a difficult truth. However, we do need to be ready to handle a negative reaction; it is important not to become defensive and react ourselves. If a negative response occurs, give the person time to talk. Ask them questions to seek to understand the individual and their point of view. Oftentimes they are aware of the issue or their personality tendency, but they need time to have a conversation and consider the effects of their behavior.
In the end, clearly communicate your expectations, set agreed-upon goals, and document them. Commit to following up with the individual on these expectations; there have been times where I have scheduled a follow-up meeting with the individual in thirty or sixty days. Giving them feedback, whether at a scheduled time or spontaneously, can keep them motived to continue working at making progress.
Take some time to be vulnerable with them. Ask if there is anything they see in the organization or your leadership that could be improved upon. A good question could be, “Is there anything I could be doing to help you be more successful in your role? Is there something I am doing or not doing that is negatively affecting you or the team?”
Asking these questions will probably feel uncomfortable at times. But it is important as leaders to show by example that we are willing to change and are open to constructive criticism as well. The employee may tell us something we do not enjoy hearing, but we need to listen graciously and be open to new ideas or the possibility that our leadership needs improvement.
Potential Issues with employee evaluations
What might be some common causes of a negative employee review? One simple cause right up front would be forgetting or neglecting a routine evaluation. If the employee expects a yearly or quarterly evaluation, and it goes several weeks or months overdue, they may become frustrated due to an unmet expectation. Even worse is if they have to remind us! Thankfully, this is an easy problem to solve; simply be intentional about scheduling prompt or even slightly early evaluations to communicate the value we place on that employee.
Another negative is our unwillingness to listen to feedback or suggestions about our organization or “our way of doing things.” This does not mean we need to, or even should, implement every idea the employee has, but rather we must take the time to listen and seek to understand the need they are trying to solve. Listening will also show appreciation that they took the time to think of ideas to help better the organization.
Not being clear about our expectations is also a detriment to an evaluation. If an employee leaves the evaluation unsure of what we expect from them and then we are frustrated with the lack of results, that is our problem, not theirs. We must be willing to have the difficult conversations and be clear about our expectations. Not following up and holding them accountable can be another reason for an ineffective evaluation. If an area of improvement is kindly and clearly communicated, but we do not follow up with accountability and feedback, we have missed a huge opportunity to help the our employees improve. This negates the effectiveness of the evaluation and our leadership.
To summarize, an employee evaluation done well is an immense opportunity to build stronger relationships with those you lead and to gain valuable insight into your organization. At an evaluation, you have the full attention of your employee for one or two hours. Use it to cast vision and reinspire them to keep making a difference in the grander vision of the company. I have seen firsthand the benefits of good employee evaluations and hope that, as leaders, we can take these opportunities to build relationships and trust with those we serve.
Todd Martin is from Lebanon, Pa. He serves on the Martin Appliance HR Team, and also leads a team as a branch manager. Beyond the professional arena, Todd cherishes moments with his wife and two energetic boys. If you valued this article and have thoughts or questions you would like to share, feel free to reach out to Todd at toddmartin@martinwater.com.