Performance reviews are never easy, whether you have a team of a few people or hundreds on board. When managers assess employees, bias becomes an integral part of the process, no matter how honest they try to be. But conducting fair reviews is crucial to ensuring employee satisfaction and loyalty. When people suspect bias, they will likely leave the organization sooner than later. Employee turnover is the last thing business owners want to deal with, so it is better to ensure fairness in the review process. Let us share a few HR best practices to measure performance without bias.
Establish clear and measurable goals
Clear and measurable goals give you a good start with the performance review process. They work like a gold standard for leaders to measure employees’ work. There is hardly a chance of bias creeping into the process when they use the same metrics to assess the productivity and efficiency of every person on the team. Besides bringing fairness into the process, clear goals accelerate it for managers. Further, ensure using a scorecard to document results to bring transparency into the system.
Perform frequent mini-reviews
Experts recommend performing frequent mini-reviews instead of sticking to annual or bi-annual processes. It enables you to troubleshoot potential challenges as they arise and implement corrective measures. It is much like giving people a second chance to improve their performance to come to par with the top performers. Besides making reviews fairer, the iterative approach drives better outcomes for the organization.
Gather a comprehensive 360-feedback
Another surefire measure to establish fair and balanced performance reviews is to gather 360-degree feedback instead of conventional reviews. You can rely on a Free 360 Review template to get an honest one. Essentially, 360 reviews do not only rely on managers’ feedback. But they also include input from peers and other people that the employee works with. Such inputs eliminate bias from the process, specifically when they come from a broad cross-section of people working with the employee. Additionally, they present a more comprehensive picture with an overview of individual strengths and weaknesses.
Discuss specific issues
Discussing specific issues is a better alternative to covering broader attitudes and attributes. For example, talk about the possible reasons for an employee missing out on the lead generation targets instead of focusing on vague expectations. Remember to use nonjudgmental language during performance conversations to make them more constructive. Even if you have to criticize, make specific and actionable statements.
Ditch pre-assumptions
The worst way to conduct employee reviews is by relying on pre-assumptions because they make the process biased more often than not. Ensure that managers do not proceed with a skewed opinion due to personal preferences or hearsay. They should focus only on employee productivity and effectiveness to evaluate individual performance. It is the only way to establish a fair and just review process for your organization.
Fair employee reviews can strengthen your employer’s brand and ensure loyalty in the long run. So you must go the extra mile to ensure that your HR team follows these best practices every time they assess the performance of your team members.
