Definition: An analysis of an employee's work habits undertaken at a fixed
point in time to determine the degree to which stated objectives
and expectations have been reached
Everybody who works for you needs to know where they stand and
how they are doing compared to your expectations of them. Many
companies have formal review systems to let employees know how
their performances stack up. Reviews may be conducted as often as
every three months, but annual reviews are most popular.
Each review should go over the goals that were set when the
employee started the job or during the last performance evaluation.
Then the review should examine how well the employee has done
toward reaching these goals. The employee should be asked to rate
his or her performance, in addition to relying on objective
measurements such as sales figures. You and the employee should
then discuss the desirability of trying to reach goals that haven't
yet been achieved, and you should both set goals for the
future.
But reviews and evaluations are--often justifiably--viewed as
little more than formalities that accomplish little or nothing in
the way of true feedback. To make formal evaluations go more
smoothly, and to eliminate any surprises on the employee's part,
give feedback at the time something occurs to warrant it.