With the Memorial Day weekend upon us here in the USA we are all thinking of 2 things, not equally, but both very important. Reflection and celebration of the true American spirit and mid-year reviews, also commonly called mid-year assessments.
You’re likely scared to death at the prospect of hours, upon hours, of the burdensome paperwork classically associated with mid-year reviews. HR Resolved would like to change that by offering 3 simple “protips” to drive that paperwork to nearly zero and drive the potential benefit, of focused reflection and coaching, through the roof!
ProTips – Mid-Year Reviews
- Mid-year (or periodic) assessments are an opportunity for coaching, learning and redirection. They are not typically most effective as a scoring or ranking opportunities.
- Mid-year assessment may be handled in 2 separate ‘phases.’ Or for maximum benefit with both phases combined in series, 2-for-1.
Phase 1 – self assessment, or the self-reflection and written summary of self-coaching
Phase 2 – supervisory assessment, coaching and as required redirection
“The 2-fer” – begin with a separate self-assessment (Phase 1) and supervisory assessment (Phase 2) first. Upon written completion of each, hold a dedicated 1-hour meeting to review and dialog around both assessments. Focus on appreciation and insuring expectations converge for a successful second half of the year. - Mid-year assessments should be low energy input for high value (measured by alignment and performance) return. Consider using a “Start, Stop, Continue” format. Pressure yourself and your employees / peers to use 3 examples under each (Start, Stop, Continue) category.
Here’s a partial mid-year (self or supervisory) review example to help you get off and running in the right direction
Start Doing (what should I / the employee start doing more of in the 2nd half of the year to help assure success)
- Start leveraging the new product commercialization roadmap to ensure the technology is “ready” per the exit criteria
- Increase collaboration with Acme Marketing to verify their VoX work is aligned with the direction “Technology Readiness” is leading us
- …
Stop Doing (what should I / the employee stop doing more of in the 2nd half of the year to help assure success)
- Stop losing my / your patience with the Jr. members of the technology team and instead identify coaching opportunities / learning moments
- …
- …
Continue Doing (what should I / the employee continue to do in the 2nd half of the year to help assure success)
- Continue to utilize the Indian development center and leverage the daily hand-off protocol to further reduce lead times
- …
- …
Curious to dive into “Level 2 details” and pull even more value from your interim, periodic or mid-year reviews? Please start a conversation with HR Resolved. Or, perhaps you’re curious how mid-year reviews fit into the bigger picture? The HR Resolved video Annual Employee Performance Optimization is Different than Just Performance Management does a good job of outlining the basics.
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