4 Things HRs Need to Remember this Evaluation Season

Depending on who you ask, evaluation season is something to look forward to or dread. However, for HRs, every evaluation cycle is an opportunity. This is a chance to motivate employees that are performing well. It can also be used as an intervention for employees that are doing unsatisfactory work, to learn what’s affecting them, and how to work around their issues.

This is an important part of both HR’s and every employees’ year. For employees, it signals how well they did and how it reflects on things like pay raise. For HR, it means that they can lay down future prospects that will bolster the company in the coming year. It’s easier said than done, so here are some tips to remember to set you and your evaluatee up for success.

Evaluations are Conversations, Not Cascades

One thing we can all relate to is that we all started at entry level. None of us started out as managers or supervisors. You also used to feel tense when asked to be talked to by HR or any superior. Remember this when talking to employees.

During evaluations, you will be relating to different employees that have different performance levels. You aren’t just there to tell them how they did, what to keep up, and what to improve. You’re there to listen to how their year went.

Make sure that you treat the evaluations as a conversation. Be clear and empathetic with what you want to communicate but also be open to listen actively to what employees have to share. Take notes and be reassuring; employees need to understand that the company hears their voice through you.

Keep Evaluation Interviews Future Focused

Even though evaluations are a reflection on the year that has come to pass, you have to contextualize the conversation to be future-oriented. By staying future oriented, you communicate how the company is relying on employees to grow. You also give the assurance of their employment stability and the company’s stability as well.

When talking to top performers, draw attention to how they helped the company grow and how they can continue to grow with the company. Being future focused is more relevant when talking to underperformers; talking about their untapped potential as employees will help push the conversation down a more positive path.

Evaluate Using Data But Don’t Treat Employees like Statistics

Discussing areas where employees excelled or need work on is difficult without data. It’s always important to have tangible data or information that you can hinge your evaluation and comments on. An employee can’t believe that they were the top performer? Show them their production or sales number. An employee is wondering why they’re underperforming? Show them their attendance or months where they didn’t meet the quota. Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) key performance indicators that will help guide employees on every area they have to be good at.

While data is important in justifying their scores, be aware to not let the evaluation scores define them. Recognize them as people. If they’re performing really well, it might be wise to talk about what inspires them. If they’re underperforming, try (but not pry) to learn about why it could be or what bothers them. Not only might you be able to help an underperformer get out of a rut, improving underperformers is easier and more cost efficient than acquiring a new employee.

Evaluate Consistently & Frequently

If your company is only doing evaluations once a year, make it your mission to let your management know that evaluations should be more frequent. At the least, have it twice a year, but ideally, you should be having evaluations every quarter. Why? Evaluators are most likely to give scores based on their most recent memory of an employee. This makes annual evaluation prone to inaccuracy.

A consistently good employee could have a bad month as the year closes. A poor performer could grind and make himself look super dependable only during evaluations. Even if you remember how they performed throughout the year, you don’t have the data to justify just how consistent they were.

This also helps keep employees motivated all year round. They don’t have to wait for the end of the year to know how they are doing; mid-year or quarterly evaluations help steer their focus towards their personal goals as well as company goals.

One of the biggest challenges for HRs during evaluation season is how the paperwork, coordination, logistics, and the evaluation interviews eat up so much time and energy. However, attendance, payroll, payout, and government forms can be the least of HR’s concerns with the right system. Go all out on every evaluation and leave attendance & payroll to Salarium. Our system seamlessly works through your payroll from timekeeping to payout in as easy as a few clicks. Try Salarium for free today.