Don't Wait Until December to Prepare for Performance Reviews

Performance review season has a way of sneaking up on everyone. One minute you're getting through summer vacations and back-to-school schedules, and the next you're asking managers to sit down and summarize an employee's performance for an entire year.

And that's usually where the problems start.

Managers are trying to remember conversations from eight months ago. Employees are surprised by feedback they've never heard before. Goals written at the beginning of the year no longer reflect what the employee is actually doing. And what should be a meaningful conversation turns into another year-end task everyone just wants to check off the list.

If your organization conducts year-end performance reviews, September is a great time to start preparing for performance reviews. Not by writing the reviews now, but by making sure managers will actually have something useful to work with when the time comes.

Start With the Expectations

Before you evaluate someone's performance, take a look at the goals and expectations employees were given at the beginning of the year. Are they still relevant? Have responsibilities changed? Did business priorities shift? Has the employee taken on work that wasn't part of the original plan?

If the answer is yes, that's worth addressing now. An employee shouldn't get to December and discover they're being evaluated against an expectation they didn't realize existed, or one that stopped making sense six months ago.

This is also a good opportunity for managers to have a simple conversation with employees:

Here's what I'm expecting from you between now and the end of the year. Here's where you're doing well. And here's where I'd like to see some improvement.

This is much more useful than saving everything for the formal review.

1. Get the Documentation Up to Date

Asking a manager in December what an employee accomplished in February and you're probably going to get a blank stare. Managers tend to remember what's happened most recently, which means year-end reviews can easily become an evaluation of the employee's last few months rather than their entire year.

Now is a good time to encourage managers to look back. What projects did the employee complete? Where did they go above expectations? What challenges came up? Were there coaching conversations or performance concerns? Did the employee take on additional responsibilities? What feedback has already been provided?

The goal isn't to create a giant file on every employee. It's to make sure the review is based on actual performance rather than whichever examples happen to come to mind in December.

2. There Shouldn't Be Any Big Surprises

This may be one of the most important rules of a good performance review: employees shouldn't hear significant negative feedback for the first time during their annual review.

If there's a performance problem today, address it today. Waiting until December doesn't make the conversation easier. It usually makes it harder because the employee has lost months they could have used to correct the issue.

A performance review should summarize and build on conversations that have been happening throughout the year, not introduce an entirely new list of concerns.

The same goes for positive feedback. Don't save that either. If someone is doing great work, tell them.

3. Prepare Managers for the Conversation, Not Just the Form

Companies spend a lot of time creating performance review forms, but completing the form is only half the job. Managers also need to know how to have the conversation.

Can they explain why they gave a particular rating? Can they provide specific examples? Can they talk about areas for improvement without making the conversation unnecessarily confrontational? Can they listen when an employee disagrees? Can they discuss goals for next year in a way that actually means something?

A beautifully completed form doesn't make up for a terrible conversation. Give managers some guidance on how you expect reviews to be conducted, not just when the form is due.

4. Look for Consistency Across Managers

One manager's “meets expectations” can easily be another manager's “exceeds expectations.” It's worth looking at how performance is being evaluated across the organization.

Are some managers giving everyone the highest rating? Are others reluctant to give anyone one? Are employees in similar roles being measured against completely different standards?

You don't need every manager to evaluate employees identically, but you do want some consistency in what your ratings and expectations actually mean.

5. Make the Review Worth Having

Performance reviews shouldn't exist just because there's a box on the HR calendar that says it's time to do them. Done well, they create an opportunity to talk about what's working, what needs to change, where the employee wants to grow, and what both the manager and employee need from each other going forward.

But that kind of conversation requires preparation, so don't wait until December. Use the next few months to clarify expectations, update documentation, address performance concerns, recognize good work, and make sure your managers know how to conduct a meaningful review.

A little preparation now can make year-end reviews much more useful, and a whole lot less painful.

Need help getting your performance review process ready for year-end? Employers Advantage can help with review forms, manager training, performance documentation, and creating a process that actually works for your organization.

Prepare for Performance Reviews with these Questions:

When should managers prepare for performance reviews?

Managers should prepare throughout the year rather than waiting until the review deadline. For organizations conducting year-end reviews, September is a good time to revisit expectations, documentation, and performance concerns.

Should employees hear negative feedback for the first time during a performance review?

Ideally, no. Significant performance concerns should be addressed when they occur, so employees have an opportunity to understand expectations and improve before their formal review.

What should managers document before a performance review?

Managers should consider completed projects, achievements, additional responsibilities, coaching conversations, performance concerns, feedback already provided, and progress toward established goals.

How can employers make performance reviews more consistent?

Organizations can establish clear rating standards, train managers on conducting reviews, compare evaluations across teams, and ensure employees in similar roles are being evaluated against appropriate expectations.