An employee performance appraisal, also called a performance appraisal or performance review is an informal assessment of an individual's performance within a specific time frame. Employees usually have the opportunity to offer feedback and ask questions throughout the process. It is designed to provide the key insight needed to help increase employee output while reducing waste or unnecessary actions. Performing an employee performance appraisals is not an automatic process - rather, it is when, and if, the proper steps are taken to perform them. Although all managers and employees may not always welcome the idea of performing employee performance reviews, they are a powerful tool for improving overall productivity, management style, and employee relations skills. Because most managers will not openly admit that they are not performing at their best, it is important to be able to voice ideas and concerns to improve the company's performance. Moreover, employees may not openly express negative feelings about the Company, but they can internalize these feelings through subconscious thinking. A supportive and authoritative approach to addressing employees' concerns is likely to increase employee performance. Employee performance reviews can occur at the beginning of each year, at the end of the year, or after a specific amount of time has gone by (usually one year). The number of employees being reviewed will depend on the size and needs of the Company and the type of review. The majority of performance reviews occur before an employee has been employed for a full year. Many companies have the option to choose whether to have their employees complete the review at the end of the year or wait until the next year. For employees, many want to know that they are being rated fairly and that they can make adjustments to their performance without receiving negative feedback from their managers. Employee performance evaluations provide the ultimate opportunity to get better results for your Company. Employee evaluations let you keep an eye on how employees are doing and let you know if they need any changes in order to reach their goals. In addition, having periodic employee evaluations is an excellent way to get better ideas about how to develop products that will help your company perform better. It also provides an excellent opportunity for your HR department to get more creative about ways to promote your business. There are many factors that can affect the success of an employee performance review. One such factor is the overall performance of the employees. An evaluation should be designed to get a more complete picture of how employees are performing compared to expectations, so that the corrective measures can be designed to target those areas where there are problems. A two-step grading system, where the initial evaluation only included observations of quantitative aspects of the employee's performance, and the second included a more detailed inquiry based on the qualitative aspects of the employee performance review, has been shown to be more effective than using a one-step simple grading system. Other important considerations for the success of your employee performance reviews include the number of employees being evaluated, their personalities and communication style, and the specific topics that were included in the discussions. For example, it might be helpful to ask employees how they felt about specific aspects of their job and discuss these topics in the performance evaluations. You could also use your discussions to try to identify any personality or communication style issues that are inhibiting the employees from achieving the highest level of performance. By identifying these areas, you can take steps to correct these problems and improve the performance of the employees in these areas. Beyond asking employees what they think about their jobs, another important part of the process is having meaningful discussions with the employees. You want to ensure that the conversations you have with the employees are not only to simply ask questions, but that they are built on genuine emotions and feelings. In the same way that managers interact with co-workers on a regular basis, they will have similar interactions with their employees. Having two-way conversations with employees and understanding what their needs are is essential to the success of your employee performance reviews. While the results of the employee discussions may be encouraging, it might not be enough to eliminate the problem. A manager should also make sure to follow up with these conversations. Even if the conversations did yield an improvement in the employee's performance, there may still be issues that need to be addressed. If the manager failed to follow up with the employee following the discussions, it may be possible that he or she did not learn anything new and didn't see any improvements in the employee's performance. By following up with the employees, you can ensure that any information and facts you gather are accurate and that you truly understand the employee's concerns.