Managers Inspire Better Performance with Better Employee Performance Reviews, Says Impact Achievement Group

Annual reviews more meaningful with a process in place based on specific job requirements, measurements

SEATTLE – May 20, 2008 – The annual employee performance review is overwhelmingly disliked by managers and employees alike. Yet with an approach based on clear measurements and communication, the annual review can contribute to increased productivity and moral, according to Impact Achievement Group.

Too often, company managers must rely on generic forms to evaluate staff, measuring characteristics like "team player" and "initiative." Along with being subjective, such characteristics are frequently not the goal.

"Many companies don’t differentiate between admirable social characteristics and the goal they want their employees to achieve," said Julie White, Ph.D., senior managing partner of Impact Achievement Group, an industry leader in leadership development and performance management consulting. "Being a team player sounds great, but teamwork is almost always not the goal. It might contribute, but often the goal is much more specific."

For instance, to improve their customer experience, a computer manufacturer may want a more streamlined transition for calls between their front line customer support team and their advanced technical support center. Making that smooth transition as the focus for performance is the goal, and can be more objectively measured and evaluated.

Companies do better when creating an employee performance evaluation process that is driven by specific job requirements. Employees are more motivated when they are evaluated on their contributions critical to their job – not the tasks of the job. Are they increasing their sales? Then the company should evaluate the sales volume, not the number of cold calls or email marketing campaigns.

A key question companies can ask to clarify the job requirements is to continually ask why they have the job. This focuses in on the key contributions for the specific role.

More information on improving the performance evaluation process is described in an article by Dr. White and co-managing partner Rick Tate of Impact Achievement Group in an article in HR Executive Online, "It's Not about the Form!" at http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=90796222.

About Impact Achievement Group

Impact Achievement Group provides assessment, coaching, customer loyalty and leadership development training that focuses on employee selection, retention, employee engagement and customer engagement. By integrating and blending the world's best assessment and recruiting processes, workshops and eLearning training, coaching and measurement programs, Impact Achievement Group helps organizations improve human performance to achieve bottom line results.