Running head: EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 1

Effective Performance Reviews

Michael C. O’Rourke

Bellevue University
EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 2

Abstract

The objective of a company is to increase shareholder value. Performance reviews are

designed to maximize the capacity of each worker to his or her top potential in a mutually

favorable agreement for both the employee and the organization. This paper will discuss what

constitutes an effective performance review; employee and manager roles; typical pitfalls; and

examples of positive and negative performance reviews.

Keywords: Performance review, performance evaluation, performance expectations

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Effective Performance Reviews

A good performance review should be an objective evaluation of an employee’s strengths

and weaknesses that is written after careful and thorough observation of an employee’s work.

The criteria for making evaluations should be standardized for all employees, and a qualified

supervisor should perform the review. The best starting point for an employee evaluation is a

detailed job description of all of the employee’s responsibilities. The job description serves as a

measurement of performance against which the employee is rated: in what areas does the

employee excel, meet the requirements of the job, or need improvement? (Sandler & Keefe,

2004).

Principal Objectives

Performance reviews are designed to maximize the capacity of each worker to his or her

top potential in a mutually favorable agreement for both the employee and the organization. A

good performance review, properly conducted, will meet these company needs:

 To provide documentation for a promotion or salary increase for an exemplary employee

 To help motivate an employee who has potential, but may be struggling to effectively do

his job

 To document actions or inactions of an employee who is uncooperative or incapable of

performing the job, in order to terminate or reassign that employee

 To help a company inventory its talent base in order to improve productivity, eliminate

redundancy, or find workers available for new assignments (Sandler et al., 2004).
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Employee Expectations

Employees should come to the performance review with the feeling that this meeting is

an opportunity to learn and take away valuable information about themselves and the future

direction of their personal growth within the company. An employee should expect to have his

strengths appreciated and possibly get some constructive suggestions for improvement. The

employee should feel that he can voice his concerns and give feedback during the review.

The employee has a responsibility to be prepared and continue to be an active participant

all year within all components of the review process. This includes understanding the job

description, having clear goals, and having a commitment to both the company and personal

growth (Carpenter, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2010). Often, the employee’s viewpoint is a much

simpler and basic approach: what do you want me to do, in what fashion and thoroughness, how

can you help me to become better, and what must I do to get a reward?

Manager’s Role

The manager’s role is to advise the employee of the job expectations, how his or her

current work performance matches these expectations, suggest room for improvement (if any),

discuss how any deficiencies can be remedied, listen to the employee’s concerns and feedback,

and discuss future goals. To give an effective performance review, the manager must be well-

prepared. He or she should have been observing and documenting the employee’s performance

throughout the year, using specific examples of something done particularly well or something

that did not meet expectations. During the review, the manager should summarize the overall

evaluation, and then go on to discuss what was done particularly well, or what could be done

more effectively. He should give concrete examples wherever possible to back up his
EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS 5

statements, and be objective and impartial in his evaluation. The manager should remain calm

and avoid negative statements: instead, he should state areas for improvement in positive terms.

For example, instead of saying “You are always late,” he could say, “I’ve noticed that you come

to work at 8:10 every day, instead of at your starting time, which is 8:00. What can you do to

ensure you are here on time every day? Or would you consider coming in a half-hour later and

staying a half-hour longer?” If a weakness is identified, a solution should be suggested in a

supportive manner: “Let’s find an approach that will work.”

The manager should also let the employee provide feedback. Does she have any

concerns or suggestions for improvement? Does she have future goals which can be addressed?

Does she understand the review and how her performance was measured?

Typical Pitfalls

Some things should not be discussed or alluded to in an employee evaluation. These

include the employee’s age, marital status, political viewpoints, race, religion, sex, sexual

preference, physical disability, weight, or a criminal record. An employee’s style of dress,

outside activities, or personal life should not be discussed unless an employee is violating a

company policy.

Timing of Feedback

The manager should be providing praise, criticism and feedback during the entire year,

not just when the performance review is delivered. Both positive and negative communication

with an employee should be delivered at regular intervals. In fact, any praise or criticism should

be given immediately or soon after the event, and it should be phrased in positive terms, never
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negative (Stenger, 2014). It is obvious when an individual performs above expectations that she

should be praised. It should also be a positive situation when a new direction is given—an

opportunity to master skills in a trial-and-error fashion. Many studies indicate that immediate

vs. delayed feedback has significant value. Empirical data show that feedback-related-positive

(FRP) individuals achieved results more quickly and the knowledge gained was locked into

longer-term memory when feedback was given immediately (Opitz, Ferdinand & Mecklinger,

2011).

Example of a Good Performance Review

One positive performance review I received was when I worked at Reader’s Digest, a

family-oriented company owned and operated by Dewitt and Lila Wallace. The “Digest” always

grew employees and seldom looked to the outside for new talent. I began in the mail room in

college and was promoted up through the ranks to Data Center Manager. In the data center, my

manager, John Davey, was my mentor. John, an ex-Marine, loved life and new experiences. He

was direct, high-energy, and supportive. When I started in the data center, John began with a

very clear and concise set of responsibilities and goals for my job and how they fit into the entire

company. He invested time in growing my skills, giving me continual excellent guidance, and

watching me be promoted, always with support and encouragement. John did not mince words

on my review; his comments were direct and to the point. Because of his ongoing guidance and

direction, there were no surprises and I knew what to expect. When I was promoted, I thanked

John and he replied, “Don’t thank me. You did the work, you deserve it.” But John’s ongoing

direction and coaching got me there.

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Example of a Poor Performance Review

I worked at Cap Gemini as a consultant in New Jersey, right across the river from New

York City. When I was interviewed for the job, there was no specific job description or specific

duties. Whenever I requested clear direction, I was pointed to the human resources job

description template that had not been updated in decades. When my boss gave me my review,

he was reading email in his office. In the next 15 minutes, while replying to his email, he told

me I was doing a good job. He then said that if I wanted to continue the conversation we could

do so, but he had a lunch meeting so we could talk while we walked down the hall. He only ever

gave me one specific direction: I should build a better rapport with the customers so they

stopped calling me when they had a problem. The “problem” was that we could not deliver our

daily printed reports to New York City one morning. The reason we could not deliver them was

because a helicopter had crashed on the main road from New Jersey to New York, and our driver

could not drive to New York City. We had worked around the problem: local printing had been

underway in New York City hours before my boss came to work and we were going to have the

reports delivered from a local office, bypassing the helicopter wreck. I had documented all this

in my required morning report which was on his desk that morning: a report he never read.

This is an example of an abysmal performance review. There was no review. It was

merely a “good job,” with no specifics, no strengths or weaknesses mentioned, no goals, and no

opportunity for my feedback. It was rushed, there was no documentation, and I had no written

job description against which to measure my performance. Since that day, I vowed that I would

never emulate anything about this person or the management style with which he governed.
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References

Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2010). Principles of management v.1.1. Retrieved from

http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/5?e=carpenter-ch06_s04

Opitz, B., Ferdinand, N.K., & Mecklinger, A. (2011). Timing matters: The impact of immediate

and delayed feedback on artificial language learning. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,

5, 8. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00008

Sandler, C., & Keene, J. (2004). Performance appraisal phrase book. Avon: Adams Media.

Stenger, M. (2014). 5 Research-based tips for providing students with meaningful feedback.

Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-providing-students-

meaningful-feedback-marianne-stenger