If you’re like most managers, you probably already have a formal program in place that allows you to provide employee feedback at least once per year. Chances are, you spend a month or a few weeks on this process in late December or early January, and you use this time to sit down with each employee and discuss the progress of the previous year and the goals for the year ahead.
This meeting helps employees recognize where they stand, and it helps them shape their behavior, professional growth, and forward motion. It keeps managers and employees on the same page, and provides an impersonal way to warn employees when they’re wandering off track. But have you considered doubling these benefits by adding a second review process during the summer months? Here are some things to consider before you implement a mid-season review cycle.
Managers should never wait for eight months to steer a straying employee back onto the path. When an employee isn’t fulfilling her potential or isn’t meeting his manager’s expectations, the time to intervene is now. An evaluation every six months can formalize this process and keep small problems from becoming big ones.
Of course, there’s a corollary to the point above, and managers should keep this in mind. Planning, drafting, editing, and delivering formal reviews takes time, and time means money. If you implement a mid-year program, keep it simple. This may mean decreasing the formality of the occasion, streamlining the documentation, or reducing the length of the meeting.
As you launch your mid-year review program, have a clear set of objectives in mind. Know where you’d like each employee to be by December, and understand how your mid-year reviews will accelerate these goals. What do you plan to accomplish by the end of the year that you couldn’t accomplish without a formal mid-cycle review? The right process, enacted at the right time, can save an employee who’s otherwise bound for strike three and a performance-based dismissal. A well timed review can also help an ambitious employee reach her year-end milestones twice as fast.
If you launch a mid-year review policy and your program isn’t ultimately cost effective, feel free to stop. Pencils have erasers, and new policies can be reversed if they turn out to be more trouble than they’re worth. But you’ll only know for sure if you make a well-planned attempt. Review the idea with your HR department and gain feedback from your teams before you move forward.
For more on how to keep your employees motivated and on track to success, reach out to the staffing experts at Cordia.