A Painless Solution to Employee Performance Reviews

Performance reviews play a significant role in HRM. From an employers perspective performance reviews provide several opportunities. They provide employers a chance to meet with employees, evaluate their current skills, and work towards developing week areas into areas of strength. They also provide employers the chance to discuss an employee's goals and future with the company. Many employers do not utilize performance reviews and the primary reason for this is a lack of knowing how to apply this tool to their organization.

There is a web site, www.performancereview.com that I found to be an excellent resource to companies, small and large, in conducting performance reviews. Their site does a terrific job of explaining the process of the performance review as well as allowing you to personalize a performance review to fit the individual and unique needs of your company. They have a feature called the "test drive" which I tried and was impressed with. The costs associated with using the performancereview.com products are minimal. The professional appearance and thoroughness of their product is excellent.
If your company is one of those that does not utilize performance reviews, or if you dread the day it is time to start working on employee reviews you are not alone. Consider the following thoughts and take the time to look at the performancereview.com web site.

Performance reviews are just as valuable to employees as they are to employers. They provide employees an opportunity to gain insight into how their employers perceive their work performance. It is a chance to see where employers view personal strengths and value that they add to the company. It also provides an opportunity to develop plans to improve performance and increase your value to the company. This is also a perfect time for employers to relate any personal concerns they have and to discuss advancement within the company.

I can see both advantages and disadvantages to using a computer generated review system. Advantages include consistency, a pre-developed plan, and efficiency from having a set system to use for numerous employees. Disadvantages include the potential inability to add relevant topics, the inclusion of topics which may not be relevant and the chance that employees may feel offended by receiving an electronic review.

I would not be bothered if I received a performance review which had been filled out via an electronic format. I have received many reviews in the past including the electronic format. I've also found that electronic reviews tend to be more accurate and complete although I have seen them designed intentionally to make it nearly impossible to receive more than a meets requirements.

A good performance review system has a number of desired requirements. One requirement is that it must communicate to the employee how they have performed on established goals and inform them of areas they must place more effort in. Performancereview.com makes this a relatively easy process; however for this communication to be effective there must be a two way feedback. Employees must be able to interact with the process and accept both the praises and challenges which may be presented. Documentation is a critical area of a good performance review. Without documentation legal issues may arise if disciplinary actions are taken against an employee.

In conclusion I thought the "test drive" function of www.performancereview.com was excellent. I have completed, delivered and received many reviews and I've used both computer generated systems and hand created systems. I have found that the computer generated systems are much more efficient, minimize mistakes and provide a more complete review. I thought the results were easy to read, edit, and would be able to be delivered in an efficient and simple manner. They provide areas which foster discussion, a critical element in a successful performance review. I was very pleased with the functionality, and ease of operation of the performance review web site.