The run up to Christmas is a notoriously busy time for HR. End-of-year annual review panic sets in amongst the senior leadership team who want final ratings, calibration and bonus payouts all sorted before December payroll. Meanwhile, line managers are nowhere to be seen as they frantically work to end of year deadlines with little time for review prep, and the majority of employees seem to be taking up unused annual leave!
For this blog post, we asked our head of Customer Success, Richard Brereton, about what HR can do to get ahead and take the stress out of this annual review season.
Should we even be doing it?
First things first: in a world where most organisations embrace some kind of regular or continuous performance management, should we even be doing annual performance reviews? Yes, says Richard. Although the meaning of the ‘annual appraisal’ has (thankfully) evolved, there’s still a place for the end of year review. It now serves as a time for reflection and it holds space for talking about achievements and long-term plans and aspirations – all the things that don’t get chance to surface in weekly or monthly check-ins.
How can you get ahead?
As we head into the final quarter of the year, the annual review schedule threatens to draw time and resources from other critical HR initiatives. Frantic conversations about pay, bonus, and possibly promotion, dominate and other new year plans risk falling by the wayside.
So, what can HR start doing now, to be better prepared for the run up to the end of the year? Based on working with Appraisd clients, Richard advises the following.
1. Kick-off in November. Yes, it’s not far off 😮 but it’s best to get the programme rolling before people start to take leave. People have lots of conflicting priorities in this quarter so provide as long a window as possible.
2. Update user data now. Use October to check your user data so there is an accurate record of who is reviewing who and who has sign-off.
3. Update your review form. Look at last year’s form and speak to employees about what worked and what didn’t. Cut the things that aren’t adding value such as questions where there are lots of instances of ‘see above’!
4. Gather ratings. Gather these and put them into the moderation or calibration process. This is easier if there has been some form of continuous performance management throughout the year.
5. Ratings before reviews. Regardless of whether or not you’ve used continuous performance management, can you get all ratings into the system before reviews? This allows other parts of the process to roll on while meetings are booked in.
6. Book the meetings in. Do this in October if possible so that people hold the time for this valuable conversation in their diaries as things start to look busier.
7. Communicate the timeline. Make sure the timescale is realistic (based on the number of reviews managers will need to do) and work back from this to determine the timeline. Before meeting invitations go out, communicate with employees and managers about the window for reviews and key dates.
8. Provide guidance for the review meeting. This can also be done well in advance – make sure managers know what should be included in the meeting. Appraisd has free resources on how to prepare for, and hold, a performance review here: https://www.appraisd.com/resources/guides
9. Provide templates for review meetings. Another item that can be ticked off in October or November. Provide a template for holding the review meeting and talk managers through it if needed. Appraisd has a free end of year review template here: https://www.appraisd.com/tools/end-of-year-objective-setting-check-in-templates
10. Keep tabs on progress. Using your performance management system, check on which meetings have been set up and held and who needs a reminder 🤔
We hope these tips will help make your review season stress-free!
To find out how Appraisd works with your HRIS to streamline the performance management process, book a discovery call with our team: Let’s Talk
