Employee Review Criteria
An employee review is a snapshot in time and provides documentation of an employee's work over an evaluation period (three months, six months or a year). Companies use reviews as one way to communicate with employees about their level of performance, quality of work, areas for improvement, and future career goals. Writing an effective employee review requires planning and gathering specific information regarding the employee's work performance.
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Job Description
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Employee reviews require a job description, which is a clear summary of a job's duties and requirements. A description can contain an overview of the position, which states what the job is designed to do, and also can contain the essential functions of the job and the job requirements. For example, an executive secretary might need to perform a variety of responsible and confidential administrative duties. The essential functions might be to act as office manager and coordinator. The requirements might be an associate's degree and six years of office experience.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
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Each job description contains the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to perform at an acceptable level. When conducting an employee review, supervisors discuss how well the employee's required knowledge has been demonstrated in the job. For example, an accountant would need knowledge of accounting functions to perform at an acceptable level. Skills required are math, problem solving and communication. Ability to use the knowledge and skills to prepare basic financial statements is a main topic of discussion for the employee review.
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Relevant Review Criteria
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A clear job description sets the stage for good performance by letting employees know what the company expects. When it is time to conduct the employee review, the manager has clearly defined goals that were set for the performance period, documented how well the employee did in reaching the goals and how the work was done. Some examples of performance measurements are outstanding, very good, satisfactory, marginal and unsatisfactory. Other criteria is quantity and quality of output, timeliness of results, and manner (teamwork, attitude, effective use of resources) of performance.
Types
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There are several types of employee review methods. One is the comparative method where the managers compare the performance of their employees. They can rank the employees from highest performing to lowest performing. Another type is a narrative method where the managers record the employee's actions after keeping a written record of both favorable and unfavorable actions in an employee's performance. A Management by Objectives (MBO) method specifies the performance goals the employee sets within a certain time frame.
Uses
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Employee reviews can be a primary source of information and feedback for employees. The review can also identify areas in which the employee needs to improve. Some companies plan in advance to develop employees for future positions and the review is a good resource to use in the planning. Other uses are determining compensation increases, employee rewards and promotions. Companies also can use the information to plan future training seminars or classes. If several employees have a need for leadership development, the company might use the identified need to justify funds for training.
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References
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