Best practices in human resources management are always changing. Years ago, performance reviews were conducted quarterly or even annually. But today’s successful human resource managers are embracing a new but very successful trend: more frequent or even continuous performance reviews of employees of all types in all kinds of industries. While the practice may at first seem time consuming, expensive and unnecessary, today’s savvy HR managers are learning that there are many benefits to this new approach to performance reviews.
Continuous employee management is becoming more popular
Instead of quarterly or annual reviews, many managers are now engaging in monthly or even weekly mini-reviews to discuss projects, track performance, listen to feedback and more. These sessions do not have to be lengthy to be valuable. Good discussion can take place in a short meeting, over a cup of coffee or even during a walk across your campus. But more frequent communication can naturally lead to educational “mini-coaching” sessions for your employees that make them feel educated, informed and supported in their roles within your organization. Allow of this allows for both managers and employees to be more effective, thanks to true and useful communication processes.
More frequent reviews encourage genuine engagement
More frequent communications allow managers and employees to not only review tasks and responsibilities, discuss concerns and address areas needing improvement, they also allow employees to discuss wellness issues, lifestyle concerns and company stressors. In addition to reviews happening more frequently, employee well-being can be discussed more often when talking about an employee’s overall performance and experience within a company. When done correctly, these more frequent conversations make managers seem less confrontational, allow conversations to feel less contrived, and cause employees to feel more appreciated and less micro-managed. This meaningful and very human interaction feeds into the overall employee experience and effects your employee’s perception of your company culture.
Helps you identify “hidden gems” in employees
More frequent employee interactions on this level not only provide a more consistent snapshot of employee performance, employee satisfaction and other factors, it can also help you learn about hidden skill sets or underutilized talents in your employee base. Before looking outside your company to fill needed roles, consider the skills and suggestions of your current employee pool. You may discover talent that’s exactly what you’ve been seeking.
More frequent communication gives more accurate data
HR departments carefully manage processes and log information to keep things running smoothly. More frequent reviews and more genuine communication with employees provides more current information for the “people analytics” that HR departments need to constantly monitor. HR management software systems are currently matching their offerings to meet this trend, allowing for a more agile and data-driven approach that is still somehow employee-centric, due to the true, frequent people interaction.
Moving beyond quarterly or annual employee performance reviews can seem un-necessary and time consuming, but current HR best practices indicate that this trend may be here to stay. Do you need help updating your HR performance review schedules and procedures? Contact the experts at Wild Coffee HR today. We love partnering with companies to help them thrive. It’s what we do.