As the year approaches its halfway point, many businesses will be holding a mid-year performance review. This type of review is a formal meeting with employees near the end of the second quarter to analyze their progress on major job duties and discuss ideas. Managers’ attitudes toward mid-year review sessions may make or break everything. Treating a mid-year review like a ‘dry’ session where managers ask and employees answer just does not sit right anymore. Managers must then be trained on how to deliver these discussions effectively, responsibly, and compassionately. To achieve that, thorough preparation is the key. Here are some things to prepare before a mid-year review
The pandemic has been difficult for everyone; some employees may be experiencing difficulties if they have just lost a relative, are juggling being full-time employees while being a new mom or dad, or undergo a series of mental breakdowns. Managers must have the skills and understanding to monitor employee performance compassionately and efficiently during the mid-year review. The key to an effective mid-year review, according to Jes Osrow, SHRM-SCP, head of learning and organizational development at Quartet Health, is to focus on the wins, possible areas of improvement, and how an employee wants to grow. Your employees should realize that this is more substantial than a check-in at the water cooler or a weekly hands-on.
Long before you decide on a schedule with your employees, you need to set the main objective of your mid-year review. Typically, mid-year reviews have two primary goals: the first is to maintain behavior that leads to enhanced performance, and the second is to improve activity that impairs progress. This is only possible if the employee understands the assessment and believes in the program’s accuracy and fairness. It is critical to keep the objectives and subjects of conversation to a limitation. Since you are evaluating a half-year of an employee’s work and planning the next half, it is critical that the dialogue focuses on just the essential, highly significant, and relevant performance metrics. Limit the amount of issues in which you want the employee to enhance and be prepared to provide improvement approaches.
To ensure that the mid-year review session will emphasize on you listening to what your employees have to say, you need to first analyze their individual performance. Review the employee’s performance plan and job description, and compare the initial targets or goal with the actual outcomes. Seek feedback from a range of people who are familiar with employees who you are about to do a mid-year review with, such as from direct supervisors or co-workers. You will minimize blunders in judgment if you have several points of views. You can also take client complaints into account, as well as report from other co-workers that an employee did a good job or had a difficulty. Do this a couple weeks before the day of review, so you will have all necessary documents about each employee’s data to later be discussed during the session.
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The next important step after you set your goals and analyze individual performance is to draft questions. Questions may differ depending on the industry, business policies, and corporate culture. Employers should be asked open-ended questions and encouraged to score their experiences on a scale of 1 to 10. Lattice suggested HR managers to start by checking up on employees’ well-being and some COVID-19 related questions, such as:
You can create guidelines for employees in advance, so that they will anticipate what to say or ask during the mid-year review, other than what you will ask as the HR manager. Michigan University suggested some of these questions for your employees to reflect upon and prepare:
The last step of mid-year review preparation is to agree on a schedule that is convenient for your employees as well as for you as the HR manager. While most managers arrange a time a few days in advance and offer limited details about the meeting objectives, good HR managers are consistent with check-ins and proper mid-year meetings. You need to actively communicate with all department supervisors, so that they will allocate specific time for their employees to go on a mid-year review. Schedule the mid-year review meeting at least a week in advance or two weeks before, as this presents employees with meeting objectives and enough time to prepare.
Mid-year reviews should not be used in substitute of annual appraisals and periodic one-on-one sessions. Instead, it allows employers to re-group employees to focus on the following six months of the operating period. It is an excellent addition to your performance management plan, providing a strong platform for creating a productive, valued, and engaged team that feels supported and appreciated by the company.
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