How effectively does your performance appraisal process reflect the growth and development of your employees? Too often, performance reviews are treated as a mere formality; a box to check once a year, without fully harnessing their potential. However, when designed with the right balance of assessment criteria, performance appraisals can be a powerful tool for boosting employee engagement, supporting professional growth, and driving business success.
A well-executed appraisal process provides a valuable opportunity to build skills, track progress toward objectives, celebrate achievements, and identify areas for improvement—all essential for propelling your organisation forward.
Whether you want to optimise your current process or explore the benefits of a structured performance feedback approach, this blog equips you with the tools and insights to strengthen your performance management strategy. We’ll guide you through revamping your appraisal process to drive meaningful change within your company.
What is a Performance Appraisal?
A traditional performance appraisal is an assessment process used to evaluate and measure an employee’s job performance and personal development over a period of time. It is often based on company values, competencies and set OKRs that are in alignment with the organisation’s goals and overall expectations. This process is also commonly referred to as a performance review.
It’s an opportunity to celebrate employee strengths and achievements, discuss any challenges with individual goals and team objectives development progress, provide 121 support and mentorship, reflect on work ethic, boost engagement, and consider aspirations for the future. Viewed as a collaborative process, managers and employees should aim to set ambitious yet achievable SMART goals that support career growth and are in alignment with organisational objectives.
Depending on the type of performance appraisal, individuals may have a review meeting annually, bi-annually or quarterly, providing key opportunities to discuss individual development. However, this doesn’t mean that employee check-ins and feedback should be postponed until the next annual, biannual, or quarterly review. A recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found that 72% of businesses conduct appraisals only once a year, and just 2% of employees gave their employers an A grade for performance management. In contrast, research from Gallup shows that 80% of employees who receive meaningful feedback within the past week are fully engaged, underscoring the importance of consistent and fair ongoing feedback. By regularly providing check-in opportunities with personalised feedback and mentoring support to employees, leaders can better cultivate stronger employee engagement and professional development with their organisation.
Why Should Leaders be Improving their Appraisal Processes?
When conducting emPerform end user training sessions with companies worldwide, we’ve listened to employees and managers share their past appraisal experiences and identified two main frustrations: the negative experience with their review and the overwhelming process of completing it. This is supported by a recent psychology report that suggests “for many workers, performance appraisals are not a source of motivation [and some] may even undermine the relationship between the supervisor and the employee.” Furthermore, as individuals tend to notice and recall negative feedback from past experiences more easily than positive, leaders must prioritise recognising performance strengths in reviews—even in performance improvement plans (PIPs) or catch-up discussions. This ensures constructive feedback that motivates employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. Leaders should embrace a new mindset, seeing these engagement opportunities as pathways to success that benefit both employees and employers.
Despite shifting mindsets, many organisations still use manual appraisal processes to track progress, which can be highly time-consuming and expensive. As teams grow larger, the increase in assessments adds to the workload, making it more challenging to offer timely and meaningful feedback. A solution to the inefficiency of manual processes is automation. Experts at Medium highlight the power of automation, stating, “Automating processes through the implementation of technology can be a game-changer for businesses seeking to optimise their operations.” Regular check-ins and real-time 360-degree reviews, supported by automation, ensure employees receive the guidance they need, to grow and succeed.
At emPerform, we provide fully automated performance management tools, helping you eliminate tedious, time-consuming tasks and focus on what truly matters—your employees. By integrating automation with best practices like ongoing feedback and clear goal-setting, you can reshape your performance appraisal into a powerful driver of employee engagement and professional development.
Key Areas in a Strong Performance Appraisal Process
Though there are many approaches in designing a performance appraisal, we have selected some key areas that, with careful attention to their development, can help organisations conduct successful appraisals.
1. Set Clear Metrics with SMART Goals
First and foremost, know what your employees need to support their individual and team objectives within the organisation. Creating clear and measurable objectives to help them reach their set objectives and defining them early in the review process will provide a solid foundation for a successful performance appraisal. Encouraging employees to set actionable SMART goals is also key in this process. Ensuring that objectives align with job responsibilities and the broader organisational goals is essential for tracking to contribute to the future success of the individual and the business.
At emPerform, we make it easy for organisations to set and track SMART goals, performance objectives, and development plans, aligning your workforce so that employees receive the essential guidance they need for success.
2. Employ 360-Degree Feedback
Following objective setting, the next essential element to include is feedback in the performance appraisal. But how detailed should this feedback be? Our experience indicates that effective appraisal feedback must be honest, constructive, specific, balanced, and if designed to support it, from multiple sources.
At emPerform, we recommend using 360-Degree reviews to support feedback processes. This assessment method of gathering feedback from the people an individual works with, whether it is from peers, managers, supervisors, or direct reports, can provide a well-rounded view of an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall impact in the workplace. By directly giving employees clear insight from these sources, an individual can better understand key performance strengths, and with the gaps that are and identified, what areas still need development for continuous improvement.
3. Follow-Up and Check-In
Once review meetings are complete, whether mid-year or annual, what happens next is just as important yet often overlooked: the follow-up and check-in process. These touchpoints help keep employee performance aligned with set objectives and personal development goals while also supporting recognition and cultivating a sense of belonging within the team and workplace. Whether through virtual calls, 121 meetings, or weekly status updates, maintaining consistent communication is essential for meaningful and lasting change.
Tools to Improve Your Processes with Performance Appraisal Software
New data from HBR reveals that “46% of organisations have altered or modified their performance management systems in the past year.” This trend is likely to continue as we start to see organisations adopt policies and global frameworks including ESG reporting and DEIB initiatives, so don’t let your business fall behind!
emPerform is a complete employee performance management solution that offers what no other vendor can: performance management made simple. We provide all the tools you need to effectively automate and streamline your employee reviews and performance management processes.
What are the Benefits of emPerform’s Performance Review Tools?
- Timesaving: Replace time-consuming manual tasks with our fully automated performance management system. All the tools needed to launch your system are ready to be implemented as part of the system with no extra cost.
- Unlimited Forms: Use as many online forms (appraisal review, probation review, PIP, etc) as needed to support your appraisal process.
- Streamline Your System: Ensure performance reviews and other supporting processes are consistent and aligned across all teams in your organisation.
- Support Your SLT: Equip managers with the best tools for inputting real-time ratings, comments, and employee feedback.
- All-Year-Round Engagement: Keep employee engagement consistent throughout the year with ongoing feedback, regular check-ins, and structured mentoring and coaching programs.
Find out more about how you can develop tailored quick and easy processes online with emPerform on our performance reviews page.
Don’t Forget!
- Communication is Key: Performance management software is just one part of the process. Effective communication from HR leaders and managers helps employees feel valued and more engaged in the workplace.
- Stick to a Strict Timeline: Set clear, specific goals and deadlines for employees to ensure they stay on track and engaged. A timeline holds individuals accountable to their SMART goals, providing structure and support for their performance appraisal.
- Ensure Year-Round Support: Continuous performance management is essential for long-term success. HR News says: “A reliable, adaptive, and talented workforce isn’t a given; it’s something you build with commitment, dedication, and respect.” Regular feedback, check-ins, and support throughout the year are crucial for maintaining productivity and cultivating a committed, adaptive workforce.
Switching to an automated performance appraisal system that supports objective setting aligned with organisational goals, facilitates feedback and ongoing conversations, and prioritises recognising performance strengths can significantly improve employee development and, in turn, drive overall company success. If your current appraisal process isn’t meeting expectations, it may be time for a revamp.
Consider adding emPerform to your HR toolkit. With easy-to-create online performance reviews, self-assessments, and PIP setup, we provide everything you need to implement an efficient, automated appraisal process.
Book a FREE demo today or contact us for any advice on performance management.
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