A proper performance review process is often very beneficial: it creates an environment in which employees should focus more on their personal development and performance, and although engagement is not the main goal, it can still increase employees’ engagement. They are encouraged to reflect on their performance and they can get to talk about their issues with management. This allows employees to feel like they are seen as a part of the team.

What is a performance appraisal?

Performance review is a written evaluation of the performance of a staff (actually, how well his/her capability matches the requirement of a job and how well his/her skill is being fully utilised). Regular performance reviews are often derived from periodical performance appraisals. In performance appraisals usually two parties in an organisation: the employee and his/her supervisor, review the performance of the employee, and alternatively with or without goals set in the review. Most of organisation conducts performance reviews, or consider the performance evaluation as an annual event.

Needless to say, you get out of the performance review process what you put into it. For performance review benefits, pour time and effort into performance review training.

What is performance review training, and how do you do it?

In the next section, you’ll learn more about performance review training as well as performance management training examples. You can then apply these examples to your own organisation.

Performance review training is another name for performance appraisal training. It is a form of training which empowers managers in the process of appraisal by helping them understand how the process should progress and assisting them to open fruitful dialogue with employees.

Performance reviews are the tool that helps company management to show where employees are with their performance and where they should aim to improve this performance. Performance reviews tell employees how well they are doing their work, where they have to improve their work, and what exactly they have to do in order to improve it.

As such, HR is the optimal person to train line managers to conduct performance reviews: they can ensure that the reviews take place consistently and with company-level insight.

The Benefits of Performance Review Training

Performance review training is a long process. It can be tempting – especially when you’re feeling pressured to meet a deadline – to skip a step in the name of saving time. But skipping a step could mean missing some big benefits. Performance review training helps to:

• Teach managers how to review appropriately
• Reduce biases
• Teach managers how to give constructive criticism
• Calibrate ratings
• Improve employee development
• Teaches managers how to review appropriately

Performance review training lets managers know how to conduct performance reviews correctly by showing them what to look for.

Yet managers should measure constituent behaviours rather than confounding ‘management’ with behaviour. In other words, they should track what people do, not how well they manage to appear to do it on the job.

For example: a good team player is someone who provides good help to projects and is someone who does good work on time; this is distinct from being a social person at lunch.

Reduces biases

If there is no procedure, it’s unlikely that managers will resist the proclivity to use biases during the review process, even if they are not conscious of doing so. You can minimise those biases with a review training regimen.

By using scales, employees are judged on what they did, not what others thought they did. You can have reviewers avoid the trap of ‘no one’s perfect’. Get them to focus not on performance, but on potential. You can help reviewers avoid the last-month syndrome.

Teaches managers how to give constructive criticism

Employees want negative feedback, but delivery matters. Criticism can be well-received when it focuses on improvement without dwelling on mistakes. Suggest to managers that when delivering tough feedback, they get into the ‘coach’ mood, and this is a learnable skill.

Calibrates ratings

GMSs are only as good as the people deploying them. Training managers on performance review involves developing their understanding of what each rating means and when that rating should be given, ensuring that every employee receives an appropriate evaluation.

Improves employee development

Reviews won’t work if employees won’t take it seriously. Employees won’t feel empowered to make reviewing meaningful if they see it as just another ‘tick box’ exercise for managers.

Employees are more likely to hear helpful feedback if it is given to them by trained managers. Managers who know how to provide fair feedback allow it to be more effective.

Training Managers on Performance Reviews: Step-By-Step

Ready to get started training your managers to give performance reviews?

Steps for creating a performance training system include:

• Setting your rating scale and performance management process
• Setting manager expectations on what performance looks like at each rating
• Teaching managers how to deliver positive and constructive feedback
• Reminding managers that they should communicate frequently with direct reports
• Providing conflict resolution techniques
• Setting your rating scale and performance management process

First, you need to set your rating scales – and record the steps in your performance management process – including your review timeline, the framework you’ll use, and what you’ll be measuring. Only by having these details in place can you begin training your managers on them.

Setting manager expectations on what performance looks like at each rating

Ratings are totally arbitrary Remember, every rating must be defined (ie, codified or standardised). For each level on the rating scale, a description is needed that example employees can be created – a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS), for example, describes what it looks like when an employee gets any score on a whole scale. You might also prepare profiles of employee ‘statistics’ that are nonexistent: you create examples, including an employee who got a rating and why, and that way the rating scale comes alive.

Teaching managers how to deliver positive and constructive feedback

Feedback will be well-received only if it is well-delivered. Once the ratings are given, you will need to teach the managers how to give that information with constructive feedback. Managers can also give feedback effectively when they know exactly how to give it.

Reminding managers that they should communicate frequently with direct reports

Part of this reflexive aversion to negative feedback is that it comes unwanted and unexpected. When managers are trained – and reminded – that they should be keeping their lines of communication open, this won’t be an issue.

Managers need to know what methods are available to them to talk with their direct reports so that issues can be swiftly addressed. Managers need to have regular one-on-one meetings to talk about what is going well or what is not; areas for improvement for the employee should be called out as well as opportunities provided for employees to share feedback. The annual review can simply be used to recap what employees and managers have been working on together all year long.

Providing conflict resolution techniques

Even with a good process, negative reviews bring out emotions and managers need to know how to handle them if conflicts emerge. Good training helps managers stay collegial and calm.

Training Managers on Performance Review Software

Performance review software does put a review process into action – but it won’t work for your business unless your managers know how to use it.

Yet, are these attempts at performance appraisals helping or hindering attempts to enhance the performance of the employees? The starting point must be to make certain that every contact is targeted at clear and measurable targets and feedback that is meaningful.

An organisation must also provide performance appraisal training for the software – to make sure your managers are confident in using it correctly. This will ensure the direct benefits of 360 reviews are obtained: your managers must be able to explain the purpose of the process and why it matters.

But a smartly designed performance appraisal process can be energising, neutral or outright soul-destroying. Make the dialogue about development and investment. And make it a two-way process; employees feel seen and heard; there are fewer surprises at the end of the session; you work together on goals, measures and development plans.