The Importance of Performance Reviews

It is the beginning of a new financial year and time to set your expectations for the next 12 months. Are your staff performing to your business standards?

I bet you have staff that are going above and beyond your expectations and the other side, where staff are struggling to perform. Therefore this places extra pressure on your high performers which can result in them looking for other employment opportunities.

It is crucial for you to manage the performance of each individual staff member to identify things that they are doing well and areas they can improve on.

Key Business Advisors strive to take businesses to the next level through an effective HR Process.  The best way to achieve this is facilitating regular performance reviews. This is not just something we preach, but we also practice every quarter with our own staff.

Performance reviews allow a business owner to address any unsatisfactory performance, non-compliance with policies and procedures and any unacceptable behaviour in a formalised process. It will also allow employers to reward their staff on positive performance and re-motivate the Company. This ensures these areas are recognised sooner rather than later, allowing employees to improve their performance and develop their skills to grow within the business.

An effective performance review process, carried out consistently by businesses, can improve business performance as it allows employees to sit down with their employer and address issues that would usually go un-noticed. This includes clarifying skill gaps, identifying key talent to help grow the business and to address common issues amongst all staff members.

The following is an example of a de-motivated staff member:

“Dave has been with his current employer for the past 3 years.  After a positive start his enthusiasm has waned and for a variety of reasons his motivation has flat lined. Throughout Dave’s employment his performance was never reviewed, he was given no recognition and no goals were set. This resulted in Dave having little motivation and no reason to continue his employment. For Dave work became a chore. For his employer Dave became a cost.”

From our own experiences we often see employees procrastinate in telling their employer if they are unsatisfied with their position, leading to them becoming de-motivated and possibly leaving the business. Not only is it a cost to recruit and train a new employee but a current de-motivated staff members can also be a cost for businesses. This is something that can be prevented by facilitating regular performance reviews as it will guarantee a time for Managers and their staff to meet, discussing both parties’ expectations. This encourages training and development and higher productivity levels.

How Key Business Advisors can help:

As each position is different, Key Business Advisors are able to tailor performance reviews that address areas of concern, recognise performance and highlights areas for future training and development. We have worked with many businesses in conducting performance reviews with their staff and seen increased levels of motivation, productivity, job loyalty and a declining staff turnover.

For more information on tailoring Performance Reviews for your business please call Key Business Advisors on 1300 4 Advice.