Tips for a Successful Employee Review
Once the employee evaluation form is complete, it's time to use it and provide feedback to each employee on the job review. An evaluator must be:

Fair and non-biased in the review Constructive - view his or her role as that of a coach Trustworthy - keep employee reviews confidential Open and direct in communications Respectful - each employee expects respect

Remember the goals of employee reviews are to improve performance, morale, and reward past employee performance. Some evaluators might make errors in performing their evaluations. Following are the errors and how to avoid them.

Leniency Error - The evaluator is too easy and everyone gets a high rating.      How to avoid? Set performance standards and expectations. Central Tendency Error - No one gets a high or low rating; everyone lands in the middle.      How to avoid? Get support from superiors and set performance standards. Recency Error - The evaluator lets a recent event influence the overall evaluation.      How to avoid? Keep careful records over an entire period. "Halo" Effect Error - Letting one favored factor distort the overall evaluation.      How to avoid? Use a scale to evaluate rating for fairness. "Pitchfork" Effect Error - Letting one un-favored factor influence overall rating.      How to avoid? Use a scale to evaluate rating for fairness.

Once the written evaluation is complete, it's time to discuss the results with the employee in the employee review interview. The interview should be scheduled at a convenient time for both the evaluator and employee with each of them having adequate time to prepare, and there should be enough time allotted for the interview - typically 1 - 1½ hours. Avoid the following interview errors:

Judging Name-calling Guessing Accusing Loaded Language

Keep the lines of communication open during an employee review interview.

Pay attention to when, where and how Start by discussing the positive Find areas of agreement Be ready to stop talking and start listening

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