For many organizations, getting managers to complete their employee performance reviews on time is a real challenge. There is a whole host of reasons why managers fail to complete appraisals, including: too large a workload, failing to see the value in appraisals, lack of skill at giving feedback or managing staff, or lack of knowledge about the process and deadlines. And then sometimes they just procrastinate. These underlying reasons should certainly be addressed on an individual basis, but sometimes organizations also need to make systemic changes to improve on-time completion. After all, failing to give employees regular timely feedback on their performance impacts employee satisfaction, productivity and retention. Here are some suggestions to help you get your managers on board.
Automate Your Employee Performance Appraisal Process and Forms
One of the simplest ways to drive up participation and on-time completion of employee performance reviews is to automate your process and forms with a web-based application like Halogen eAppraisal™.
Moving the whole thing on line saves everyone valuable time and money. It takes the guesswork out of the process; managers no longer wonder what form to use, when the appraisal is due, or what to do next. The application takes care of all that detail for them, presenting managers with a list of tasks, the due date for each, the form they need to use, and giving them access to background info like multi-rater reviews, past appraisals, development plans, goal status, performance journals and more. Managers have all the information they need to write the appraisal, right at their fingertips. The application also handles the workflow and approval process. And it makes the actual writing faster and easier by providing suggested comment text, coaching tips, and development activities, as well as a spell-checker and language sensitivity checker.
Another way that web-based performance appraisal applications help support on-time completion is with automated email reminders. Your administrator can set up the email reminders to be sent, determine when they are sent, and who they are sent to, so you can escalate the issue of tardiness up the reporting chain if needed. Halogen eAppraisal even lets you customize the content of your email messages to suit your corporate culture.
"Halogen's solution was highly intuitive and provided us with the flexibility to configure the system to meet our unique cultural needs," says Angelique Keenley, Director of Human Resources at The Motley Fool. "Respecting and maintaining our corporate culture is a priority for all of our HR programs, so being able to adapt the solution so it fits with our language - using greetings and reminders like "Hey, Fool" and "Dude, you're late" - was a plus."
Finally, automated performance management applications give HR reporting capabilities, so they can monitor everyone's progress in the process, identify bottlenecks and take appropriate action.
Make it Part of a Manager's Job
Some organizations make on-time completion of employee performance reviews, following the corporate process, a formal part of every manager's job. Each manager is assigned a goal to complete their appraisals on time, and is then evaluated and rated on whether or not they met the goal. Others include performance management related competencies in their list of competencies that managers are evaluated on. Halogen eAppraisal's competency library includes competencies like Concern for Employee Satisfaction, Performance Appraisals, Managing Employee Performance, Providing Feedback to Subordinates and Employee Programs that can be included in a manager's evaluation form.
Use Positive Reinforcement
Beyond automating your performance appraisal process, many companies have success with positive reinforcement programs to encourage participation and on-time completion.
Ideas for rewarding managers who complete all their employee performance reviews on time include:
- Time off with pay
- Plum projects/work assignments
- Gift cards (or points towards a gift card or other reward)
- Free coffee
- A reserved parking space, or access to a better parking lot
- Invitation to a special lunch or reception
- Chocolate or some other goody
- Public acknowledgement (e.g. their name on a publicly displayed honor roll board, acknowledgement on the company intranet, mention in a newsletter, etc.)
- Corporate wear (e.g. t-shirt, mug, ball cap, etc. with the company logo)
- Entry into a draw for a more substantial prize
Since completing appraisals on time involves cooperation and effort from both the manager and their employees, you could consider doing a group incentive, rewarding departments or teams rather than individuals.
Use your imagination...
Just make sure the reward is meaningful and valuable, but also sustainable. When implementing any of these reward programs, you need to consider your corporate culture as well as your budget. You'll want to select a reward of the right scale, that is in keeping with your organizational culture and other similar programs. You also want to make sure you can financially afford the reward in the event of full participation. Finally, you need to make sure that you are rewarding positive behavior - completing richly-detailed, high-value appraisals that drive high performance, rather than negative behavior - getting the task done quickly, in a slip-shod way, just to get the reward. Too large or valuable a reward can motivate negative behavior.
Use Negative Reinforcement
Some organizations find it necessary and effective to use negative reinforcement. One company penalizes tardy managers by giving their employees an extra week of pay impacting the manager's ability to stay within budget. Another organization sends managers who are late completing their appraisals an email warning them of possible suspension, then follows up with an actual notice of suspension if appraisals are not completed. Strong actions such as these don't work effectively in all situations, but can be important for organizations in regulated environments, where there are real business consequences for incomplete or late appraisals.
Conclusion
Whatever method you choose, it's important to build a culture where employees receive regular, formal feedback on their performance and are assigned clear goals. Performance appraisals are one of the key ways organizations can build alignment and organizational effectiveness, and drive employee satisfaction and retention.
See for Yourself
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