Checklist: The dos and don’ts of performance reviews

If you don’t even know when to start — including why performance reviews are so important or when they should be done — read this full guide first.

If you already have a performance review structure, follow the below checklists to make sure you are including all of the right things within the conversations, and adjusting anything that you shouldn’t be doing.

Do

1. Set up individual meetings with each of your team members in the timeframe required. Meet in person if you can and ensure it’s in a private setting.

2. Keep the conversation focused on their behaviours and accomplishments for the performance period under consideration. No work-in-progress items.

3. Celebrate their wins; ask them what they’re proud of and found most rewarding over the performance period.

4. Discuss what they found most challenging and link it back to their career goals. Encourage ownership of doing the work and inspire growth.

5. Provide insight and detailed feedback. Be specific and focus on behaviours not personality traits. Invite conversation here — you are not the judge and jury!

6. Consider external factors if some objectives have not been met, as it doesn’t necessarily mean their performance has dropped. Be flexible and fair.

7. Talk next steps and ensure there is a clear call to action at the end. Organise a check-in meeting to follow up at a later date.

8. Reflect upon and address your own biases before the meeting, such as the halo/horn effect, recency bias, and affinity bias.

9. Give yourself space to feel any initial emotional response in private (e.g. frustration or nerves).

10. Be kind to yourself and take the pressure off — this is just another conversation.

Don’t

1. Don’t leave the conversation to the last minute. It’s poor leadership and sends the message that you don’t value your peoples’ development.

2. Don’t do most of the talking. This is a two-way conversation that should empower the employee to own their performance.

3. Don’t assume or jump to conclusions; there is always a reason for under-performance. Work to uncover the underlying cause of any issues.

4. Don’t overrate or avoid constructive feedback because you don’t want to ‘hurt feelings’. Deliver feedback with clear examples and with respect.

5. Don’t provide a tsunami of feedback. This will completely overwhelm and demotivate your staff. Instead, focus on the key areas of development.

6. Don’t focus solely on recent performance. Consider the entire performance period (e.g. six months or year).

7. Don’t use extreme (e.g. always, never), subjective (e.g. rude, enthusiastic) or general (e.g. good, poor) language.

8. Don’t use a performance review for a discipline meeting. You can signpost such a meeting during the performance review, but it should be managed separately.

9. Don’t confirm a rating in the meeting. You may need to reflect afterward or your company may need to do a calibration.

10. Don’t discuss anyone else’s performance or pay information.