Managers and their staff don’t have to dread performance reviews. With the right focus and regular feedback, everyone can benefit—including the organization. This ebook offers seasoned advice to help managers and employees gain benefits from the review process.

From the ebook:

The annual performance review is often dreaded by employees and managers alike. For employees, it’s sometimes perceived as an administrative task that feeds into a mysterious “black box” that results in a completely arbitrary outcome. For managers, it’s piles of paperwork and a difficult allocation of scarce resources.

Here’s how to make the annual performance review less painful, increase employee participation, and streamline the overall process.

Make performance reviews more than a singular event
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of performance reviews is that for many organizations, they are a singular, annual event. Employees have no idea where they stand or how their performance is viewed during the year, creating additional tension and a seeming lack of transparency. Managers feel they must cram 52 weeks of feedback into a convoluted HR-driven process, making it painful for everyone.

Rather than waiting for the annual review, make performance discussions a regular event. At a minimum, have monthly check-ins with each member of your staff and review how they’re performing against their goals and development objectives and how their current work fits into a long-range plan. Fifteen to 30 minutes once or twice a month turns annual performance reviews from a mysterious and painful process to a quick formalization of a discussion that’s been ongoing throughout the year. Plus, regular check-ins foster a greater connection between managers and employees, ultimately increasing the performance of the team as a whole.