A Supervisor’s Planning List when Preparing for a Really Useful Performance Review
1. Gather information on employees throughout the year
a. This can be done in a variety of way, e.g. e-mails, file folders, electronic files. The important
thing is for you to find a method that serves your needs best in gathering performance
information on your employees throughout the year.
b. You want to focus your information gathering on what your employees are doing (their
performance) and how they are doing it (their behaviors).
c. If you stay true to including specific situations in your reviews, there should be no reason to
have an employee believe you are copying and pasting from previous years’ reviews.
2. Include the Small Picture (vs. big picture)
a. When it comes to completing performance reviews, don’t use vague terms to describe a trait or
specific area while writing a performance review for an employee. Using terms such as “good or
nice” and “sometimes or not enough”….are, well….. not enough. Clear, crisp language is what is
needed to be able to write an employee performance review effectively. Use adjectives that
have a greater impact on the employee and the overall review. Coupled with the adjectives
must be specific situations to connect how the employee’s actions align (or do not align) to
performance standards.
b. While some communications are better left at the 50,000 foot level, language in a performance
review must be clear and specific to each component within the review, whether it is providing
input on how well an employee exhibited job competencies or the measurement of how well an
employee achieved their goals set forth for the year. Be specific and use descriptive language in
your writing. Your employees will appreciate and value this level of feedback.
c. For instance, you could say….. Angie displayed stupendous communication skills when 7 of 10
customers provided negative feedback about the recent implementation of online bill payment.
Having listened to each customer patiently, she provided a sound justification for their issue,
and promised to resolve those with potential impact on the new guidelines.
d. At the same time, if it is a negative comment that you must include, you could do so by saying…
When 7 of 10 customers provided negative feedback about the recent implementation of online
bill payment, we found Angie quite flustered and unable to answer the issues customers raised,
effectively. She portrays a lack of knowledge in the new guidelines and in experience when it
comes to dealing with challenging situations such as these.
3. Offer Constructive Feedback. It should be
a. Specific – Clearly tell the employee what they are doing well, and why you value the behavior
(impact on team, organization, customer, etc.) or what they need to change/improve and why
(impact on team, organization, customer, etc.). Your feedback should include a specific example
of when the behavior in question was demonstrated (no generalizations).
i. All comments should be based upon observable behavior and not assumed motives or
intents. Focus on the behavior and not the employee.
ii. Language should be descriptive of specific behaviors rather than general comments
indicating value judgments.
iii. It is specific and performance based.
iv. It is descriptive, not labeling.
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A Supervisor’s Planning List when Preparing for a Really Useful Performance Review
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
v. Constructive feedback includes providing examples of what's expected. This
demonstrates what you want, and reduces the potential for misunderstandings and
errors.
Honest – Don't beat around the bush, especially with corrective feedback. And don't exaggerate.
Tell the employee as honestly and accurately as you can what they're doing well, and where
they can improve. Positive comments should be made first in order to give the employee
confidence and gain his/her attention.
i. Be Appreciative -- Expressing appreciation is an important aspect of feedback. If
someone spends hours on a project that turns out all wrong, let him know that you
appreciate the effort before criticizing his work.
ii. Avoid Negativity -- When providing feedback, avoid using accusatory statements like,
"You've really messed this up." Offer positive and specific suggestions instead, like, "This
is a very good point, but let's move it to the middle of the presentation."
iii. Recognize a Job Well Done -- When suggesting improvements, remember to
acknowledge what's done right. Complimenting work well done provides
encouragement when things are going wrong.
Timely – For greatest impact, give feedback soon after the behavior is exhibited. The only
exception to this is when emotions are running high and need to be allowed time to settle in
order to facilitate communication.
Helpful – The goal of feedback is to help the employee improve their performance. Make sure
your feedback includes helpful coaching, and when needed, suggestions for how to behave
differently next time as well as support for learning and development. Your feedback should be
anchored to the employee’s goals and to job competencies. Focus on behaviors the employee
can control and change. And emphasize the sharing of information. There should be
opportunities for both parties to contribute. Provide for two-way communication, soliciting, and
considering the employee’s input.
Ongoing – Be lavish with your praise and recognition of desired behaviors; it will encourage
more. Be consistent and persistent with your feedback on poor performance; it takes time to
learn new, more effective ways of working. Employees should get some form of feedback every
week.
Offer Support – After providing feedback, it's important to offer support. Make sure that the
employee receiving the feedback knows that he/she can ask questions or request assistance
from you.
Whether or not feedback will work, largely depends on how it's presented. Offering constructive feedback
can help you get the results you want.
Feedback conversations with your employees should be based on trust, honesty, and concern. These
conversations should be private, particularly if it is negative.
Providing this type of feedback is part of your regular supervisory responsibilities, not an exception to the
norm. As a supervisor, you must be able to tolerate a feeling of discomfort – knowing you are providing
feedback for all the right reasons…supporting the employee.
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A Supervisor’s Planning List when Preparing for a Really Useful Performance Review
4. Stop Holding Feedback Hostage – Set If Free!
a. Following the golden rule…. “DO unto others as you would have them do unto YOU” helps put
things in perspective when it comes to providing feedback. Don’t you appreciate when your
supervisor provides you timely feedback on your work performance? Research shows that
constructive and timely feedback encourages the heart and gives employees added confidence
in their work; plus it helps support the achievement of organizational goals.
b. There are some supervisors who like to save up; not that they save up on time or resources, but
they save up feedback (of any kind) for the annual performance review. So these supervisors do
not bother to give feedback for making mistakes or not completing a project as assigned, but
saves it up for the last day. They use this tool to justify and establish a biased appraisal
procedure. This is a guaranteed way to encourage bad performance and in some cases, attrition.
c. Employees deserve the opportunity to improve their performance before they are suddenly
faced with this type of feedback in their performance review. This means that as their supervisor
you must make it a point to keep track of their performance – and provide feedback and
suggestions to them throughout the year. There should be ‘no surprises’ in the information you
are sharing with your employee in the year-end review. The only reason this might occur is if
something happened, say in the week before the scheduled performance review, and you did
not have an opportunity to provide feedback to the employee until your performance review
meeting. There is really no other reason why you should be holding feedback hostage until the
performance review meeting.
d. Let’s talk about Job Expectations for a minute. Job Expectations are part of what we do every
day in our work. They can range from responding to a customer inquiry within 24 hours to
developing and delivering a training session on fire safety. Job expectations are an extension of
the core duties and responsibilities listed in our position descriptions. And these job
expectations may need to be defined, clarified and nurtured at times throughout the year. And
it’s during those times when your feedback to your employees is most valuable and appreciated.
e. Feedback can come in different shapes and sizes and at any time during the work day.
Opportunities for feedback are ALWAYS around you by observing your employees in what they
do and how they are doing it.
5. Accept Feedback
a. While you are writing your reviews and preparing for your employees meetings, it’s very
important to remember to accept feedback from your employees during these meetings. A
performance review is a good place to find out your employee's ideas and feelings about the
organization, about other employees and about you. Think of it as a 2-way conversation that
allows your employees to ask questions about their job and get answers to any doubts relating
to his/her performance, and to bring clarity on what your expectations are of him/her moving
forward.
b. Sam Walton, the founder of WalMart, has 10 rules for running a successful business. His rule
about LISTENING aligns very nicely with our focus on performance reviews. He says that, “Many
people think that communication means getting others to do what you want them to do. For
them, good listening means, ‘I talk – you listen.’ These types of people have forgotten the basic
truth about being a good listener: Listening is a two-way process. Yes, you need to be heard. You
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A Supervisor’s Planning List when Preparing for a Really Useful Performance Review
also need to hear the other person’s ideas, questions, and objections.” Walton’s final thought is
very significant in that he says…… “If you talk AT people instead of WITH them, they’re not
buying in – they’re caving in.”
Would you agree that this type of listening relationship is not what we want or need as part of
performance reviews?
Actively accept feedback from your employees. And being a good listener is one of the most effective
leadership traits you can demonstrate not only to your employees but to other colleagues as well.
By actively listening to your employees, you are sending a positive message that you value their
opinions and that they are an important part of your department and Xavier University.
6. Remember Employees are Unique….and so should their performance reviews.
a. It would be needless to say that this is the most common mistake that a supervisor can (and
unfortunately, sometimes does) make. Comparison in any form and making unnecessary sample
performance appraisal comments always brings negative competition and jealousy. Any two
performers (or non-performers) cannot be compared with each other even if they belong to the
same department and follow the same work procedures. The performance of an individual must
be judged individually considering the conditions and circumstances.
b. Just like zebra’s and snowflakes – there are no 2 alike. These are relational in understanding the
uniqueness in each person.
7. Keep Performance Reviews
a. Supervisors sometimes forget the fact that performance reviews are all about awarding their
employees for their hard work and giving constructive feedback for improvement and
development opportunities. Performance review sessions should never be about blaming.
Blaming and making accusatory comments should not be on your agenda when preparing for
your performance reviews. Though it is possible that underperformers might not be given a
raise according to their expectations, one cannot deny the fact that blaming will only discourage
them further in trying to improve their performance.
8. Know Thy Employees
a. As a supervisor, you most likely wear several hats in your role. This may cause a level of
difficulty for you to observe the performance of your employees on a regular ongoing basis.
Your direct observation is very important so try to be very intentional in your opportunities to
do so regularly. Scheduling frequent informal meetings with them to discuss their work may
help drive your ability to gather information to better assess their performance. Also consider
reaching out to colleagues and key internal customers who may interact with your employees
and request feedback from them.
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