By Yael Cohen – Palavra de Especialista
The performance evaluation is a much-discussed process these days. Many managers consider this process ineffective and inaccurate, and the time spent on it is perceived as wasted.
Due to dissatisfaction with the process and without seeing a good end product and results, some companies have eliminated the annual performance review, but they have not given up measuring their performance. On the contrary! Companies are considering a continuous feedback model, with more frequent performance check-ins, goals, and action plans for development.
Performance review is an essential process for both the company and the employee for these four reasons:
- Professional development
Managers who do not closely monitor their team’s achievements and failures will not have opportunities to share constructive feedback or praise their work. Without feedback, employees are deprived of developing their technical and behavioral skills, something essential for a professional who is always looking to grow in his career.
Employees want to have feedback, even if negative, in order to improve. And, therefore, continuous feedback is constructive and essential.
- Alignment of individual and organizational goals
When we align organizational needs, performance analysis, and feedback, employees can decide, together with their managers, their own goals. And goals can be extremely effective motivational tools. In this way, employees understand how their work is important and impacts the company as a whole, and the sense of contributing to something greater is excellent for everyone.
Managers who are actively dedicated to developing their team and measuring performance are those who discuss projects, goals, and career growth with each member of their team. The result of this involvement is a greater chance of individual goals being achieved, as well as the goals of the team and, in turn, the company.
- Company performance
Employee performance can be a good indicator of company performance, more specifically of Human Resources strategy and organizational culture. This means that a strong feedback culture directly impacts the company’s bottom line, as well as provides a more productive workplace.
It is easy to think that the reasons employees are not achieving an optimal level of performance are motivation and engagement, when in fact, the issue lies in the company’s culture and the lack of processes such as performance evaluation and development plans only contributes to this problem.
- Culture of recognition
A fair and coherent performance evaluation process is essential to justify other Human Resources processes, such as remuneration, goals, promotions, layoffs. The resources are limited and must always be related to performance, so that the best talents are recognized and employees who need to improve have constructive feedback and a development plan.
When the company recognizes people who are aligned with the company’s values and expectations, the culture is reinforced and (good) examples tend to be repeated.
In conclusion, the traditional models of performance evaluation are outdated, but the importance and benefits of evaluating performance are very clear. Only with this information can a company operate, grow, and offer an excellent work experience to its employees.
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Yael Cohen has a degree in Business Administration from IBMEC-RJ and a Master in Human Resources Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA. Yael has over 7 years of experience in several areas of Human Resources, both in Brazil and in Silicon Valley startups. She is currently Human Resources Manager at TuneIn, based in San Francisco, CA.