Sunday, December 13, 2009

Employee Reviews


How often do you have to review employees or contractors in your workplace? In earlier posts I have talked about "being the hammer" or the tough choices that are part and parcel of what I do with some clients. Today I thought I would focus on the positives that come with a good review. First of all, everyone wishes to be understood and appreciated. It is a basic and primal need. When you have a good team member, it is easy to understand & appreciate them. When you solicit for feedback, what you get is generally positive and extols the virtues of the individual.
What do you do when you have positives only?

Simple - you set goals.

The way to have further success with a high performing team member is to establish more challenges and objectives. One of cheesy HR sayings is: "TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More"

I would agree with that, but only if you give clear goals for what MORE is! Set some targets for achievement. Metrics make evaluation easier down the road. Remember that metrics may not be just a financial target. It could be new programs, ideas, brainstorming sessions, memos, clients or other variables in your business. What stimulates our brains in many ways is not just pleasure or sensation, but the experience of novelty. This experience can be explained as the achievement of a goal in a way that relates in value to a target.

Give a goal, get satisfaction! A stretch target is not a bad thing if presented in the right way. Remember that for yourself. We are quickly coming up on the New Year. You should make a point to review your own performance and that of your company.

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