What is a performance review?

A performance review is a conversation between an employee and their manager. It covers where you stand in your development, how you are doing, whether you enjoy your work, where you want to grow, what your plans for the future are and so on. A performance review looks forward and is two-way traffic, unlike a performance appraisal , which is often one-way. A performance review helps you get better and do your work as well as you can. When it takes place depends on your manager or your organisation. It is part of the annual review cycle . How many performance reviews you have each year also depends on your work. Many organisations still work with a traditional annual cycle: a meeting at the start of the year in which you set goals, a performance review halfway through the year in which you discuss your progress, and an appraisal at the end of the year. These days, though, we see many organisations switching to a more contemporary way of appraising. Below we explain why that is a good idea.

Switching to the new way of appraising: holding a good performance review

The classic appraisal cycle is out of date, and there are several reasons for that:

• Development is a continuous process. That means you need to reflect and adjust more often than the classic cycle allows. One occasional conversation a year is usually too little, too late.
• Conversations in the classic appraisal cycle feel nerve-racking. You undergo them, when you should be the one in control of your own development.
• Managers find the classic conversations time-consuming: they have to prepare them and gather input themselves, and that input is often subjective and based only on recent experience.
• The classic cycle centres on role-specific performance. Now that work and roles change so quickly, the job description is no longer a good starting point. Your own strengths and drivers change far less, so let those be the starting point for your development.

The new way of appraising therefore puts people at the centre and leaves more room for employees to steer for themselves. Insight into your own performance and drivers is the starting point, and you do not have to come up with that insight on your own. (360-degree) feedback is an important mirror: feedback from colleagues, your manager, external people such as customers, and of course from yourself. Gathered regularly, that feedback is enormously valuable input for the conversation with your manager.

Beyond the fixed moments in an HR cycle, those conversations will more often be check-ins: moments where you and your manager quickly align on whether you are still on the right track. Alongside feedback, setting goals therefore matters. Goals let you take deliberate steps towards achieving something.

The Treams tools help enormously with this. Not only with asking for and giving feedback, but also with setting goals and preparing your conversations or check-ins with your manager.

Is a performance review mandatory?

An employer is not legally obliged to hold a performance review with employees. The reason for holding one is that it lets them record in writing how the employee is performing. If someone is not performing well, a file is built up. By introducing a continuous dialogue instead of the performance review, you are in constant conversation about growth, development and performance, and the file builds itself automatically.

How do you prepare for a performance review?

Still working with a traditional annual cycle? Then it is important to know how to prepare well for a performance review. These four tips explain how.

1. Look back at the previous performance review

Preparing well is how you get the most out of a performance review. Look back at what you discussed last time. Did you stick to it? What are the goals you want to bring to this conversation? Where do you stand on them? It is also worth looking at how you work with your colleagues. How is that going? How could it be better? And by going through the talking points from the previous review, you can usually get a sense of what this conversation will be about.

2. Ask for feedback

Ahead of a performance review, ask your colleagues for feedback on how you are doing. That gives you a rounded picture from different angles of what is and is not going well and what you can work on in the period ahead. It is good input for the review.

3. Draw up an agenda for the performance review

Agree with your manager in advance who will draw up the agenda. Set out what the two of you are going to discuss and ask whether the other person wants to add anything. That way you know what to prepare before the conversation.

4. Look ahead and set goals

Having goals gives direction. So it is good to set and discuss goals during the performance review about what you will be working on in the period ahead. What do you want to achieve within this company, and how are you going to achieve it?

Which questions can you ask as a manager during a performance review?

You want the performance review to be a valuable conversation, of course. In practice we notice that managers often still find it hard to ask the right questions. Here are a few example questions. Asking these will give you a valuable conversation.

• Do you have enough challenge in your work?
• What can I do to make your work easier or more enjoyable?
• Where would you like help from your colleagues?
• What makes you happy, and what could be better?
• What gives you energy?
• What are you proud of?
• When does work feel successful to you?
• What do you want to experience more often in your work?

How can performance management software help with the performance review?

For the younger generation, supporting their growth and development with technology is an absolute must. In an online tool like Treams you not only have everything you need to realise your growth, you also know where you can grow to. AI helps you ask for genuinely useful feedback and set concrete goals, so you can actually move forward. All of it at a glance, so you and your manager can align quickly and regularly.