The sweetness that comes from reviewing performance data.
You prep for performance review time, your templates and guidelines are ready. You then train your managers on the process, and help get them prepared for their role in the process, and for the conversations to come with their direct reports over the coming weeks. Lastly, you share that information out with employees. You kick off the process, and before you know it, the reviews are complete and you’re sitting at your desk with a pile of data, insight and possibilities!
Employee performance scores are a crucial component of any successful business. You learn first hand about your high performers, those with management potential and those who are at risk for performance improvement. This information, along with engagement sentiments you’ll gather is all invaluable to building brand loyalty and a positive employee experience for those that make your business run smoothly. Sounds simple right? But we all know that it’s what you do with the data, that counts. That’s how you make a difference and create serious positive change.
To simply review high-level employee ratings and overall engagement sentiment from performance reviews isn’t enough, and here’s why.
The devils in the details.
While an employee might be generally happy with their overall benefits package and rate them with a 4 out of 5, review what anecdotal information was shared. Did they provide a comment such as “I really appreciate my health insurance, but dental providers are proving hard to find”. Make note of this and see if others are responding similarly.
Rating systems are unique to the respondent.
Knowing your employees will help you better understand their position with a given topic. For example, if Hannah constantly gives high ratings across the board, with 5 being the best things can be, we should weigh her 4, much heavier than say Mark, who only on occasion will rate a topic with a 5 out of 5.
Get manager feedback.
Find out how the performance review conversation went between your managers and their direct repots. Oftentimes, written reviews can have a certain tone or feel, but in reality, after chatting through the feedback with their manager, employees can be put at ease. We don’t want to set off any alarms before we know the full story, so hold retros with your managers to get the full scoop.
Just within these few scenarios, you can begin to see the importance of reviewing employee performance review feedback with a fine tooth comb. Pivotal information can easily be missed, and that can often be where employers can have the biggest impact. From there, you can start to drive new initiatives and change that will keep your top performers feeling safe and fulfilled in their role.
