Headline News and all Stories

In most organizations June and July are about the times that mid year reviews are done to assess the progress of their employees. For sales organizations it is pretty simple since most are looking at the month sales goals and then other development factors. The problem with most performance reviews is that they only take place twice a year. A new book out called Managing (Right) for the First Time deals with this situation and its author David C. Baker helps managers understand that a performance review should be an ongoing discussion. He uses his experience in talking with over 500 small businesses to help newly appointed managers and those that have been in their roles for a while to understand the performance review with their employees. This can help employees stay on tract to meet their performance objectives and then there are no surprises at the end of the year.
I have been on those year end reviews when a person is shocked that they did not get a fully met and part of this responsibility lies with the manager to help coach and lead them through out the year and provide more constant feedback on their performance. The performance can be a time to motivate employees but can end up being a heated debate on ones views of another performance. So don’t let opportunities to discuss updates with your employees on a monthly basis pass you by and take the time to invest in your people more than twice a year. You can read a great intro on the book at http://www.firstmanagers.com and understand why we as managers can sometimes be off the mark when it comes to giving our people feedback.