Leading a team can be a challenge for even the most experienced of businesspeople, and creating a supportive internal culture is one of the key focuses for many.

What is often overlooked is the importance of performance reviews, both on the individual staff members who have them and the internal culture of your organization as a whole.

Having noticed that not enough organizations understand the impact performance reviews have on internal culture, I’ve written an article containing a few of the reasons why you should be using them to drive your culture forwards and improve wellbeing among your staff.

Performance Reviews Make New Employee Onboarding Easier

With studies showing that half of SME employees quit because they were let down by their firm’s onboarding process, it’s important that you make an effort to ensure that new staff receive the support they need when they first join your organization. Informing new staff that they will have a performance review at set times throughout the year will make them feel valued and give them something to work towards throughout their time with your company.

They Make Staff Feel Valued

Staff who know that they will be evaluated feel like they’re receiving attention and are important to your organization. They will know what they are working towards and feel contented in their work as well. As a result, they will be more loyal to your business and more likely to protect and preserve its internal culture.

Staff Can Bring Problems To You

Employee evaluations give you as a team leader the chance to talk to them one-on-one in a way that you’re not usually able to. This means that if any staff are having problems then they can bring them to your attention in a safe and comfortable environment. The fewer staff issues your team is having, the better your internal culture will be, as staff will feel happy and content.

You Can Weed Out Poor Performing Employees Quickly

Staff who don’t perform well in their role, either because they were a bad choice for you to hire or because they’ve become disinterested, can have a significant cost to your business, both in terms of money and staff morale. After all, other staff will probably be having to spend their time helping them, and this will take away from their ability to perform their own roles. By apprising staff through the year you can easily notice the team members who aren’t undertaking their role to the best of their ability and work out a way to support them that will ensure that your company only contains the best staff members who are working hard and acting as an asset to your organization.

Evaluations Help Employees To Get More Involved In Their Careers

Sometimes even the most skilful and dedicated of staff members can become disinterested and distracted by personal issues, so performance reviews can be a great way to bring their focus back to their role. You can encourage them to prepare for the appraisal to give them the chance to review their own work and understand their role in the company better.

Learning About Your Staff Is An Important Part Of Your Role As Team Leader

As well as allowing you to see how well they’re doing in their jobs, performance reviews also give you the chance to learn more about the tasks your employees undertake and how they organize their workloads. This is important, as it will help you to better manage your team and understand team dynamics. It will also make organizing cover for staff less stressful, as you will know about the work that your employees do and be able to have it covered without having to research it first.

Reviews Are A Great Time To Discuss Goals

Every employee needs to have targets to work towards, and performance reviews are a great time for you to set and review these with each member of your team. They will give you the chance to discuss each individual staff member’s target and how the impact this has on your entire organization, as well as their own personal performance.

They Encourage Bonding Between You And Staff Members

As a team leader, it can be hard for you to make time to bond with your staff and really get to know them, so performance reviews can give you the chance to catch up. You shouldn’t spend the entire review chatting, but you should make time to have an informal discussion with them and find out more about what they enjoy about working for your company.

As this article shows, performance reviews can bring a wide range of benefits to your business, its internal culture and your staff, so you should defiantly incorporate them into your leadership strategy. It can be hard for new managers to conduct performance reviews, but by being open and supportive you can easily use regular performance reviews to enhance your firm’s internal culture and create a great place for you and your employees to work in.

© 2020 All Rights Reserved Ella Woodward

Subscribe to HOLR Magazine