Employee evaluations can sometimes be one of the most stressful times in a career for the managers and the employees.

There are ways to make employee evaluations much more comfortable and less stressful. One thing that takes the stress off is letting the employee know up front when the evaluations will be done. The company should have it in the employee handbook how often an employee evaluation is done, for example every 90 days or every year. This way, the employee knows when the evaluation is coming up.

Create a clear job description

Having a clear job description is important as well so that the employee knows what they are supposed to be doing. Then, in the evaluation, these job descriptions can be rated with how the employee is doing. Then, there are no surprises and the employees do not understand why they got a bad evaluation.

Guidelines for getting a raise

One thing that employees worry about for their evaluations is whether they receive a raise or not. It is important to outline in the employee handbook when raises will be distributed. If reviews are every 90 days and a raise is only going to be given out once a year, this should be told to the employee. This way, they are not stressing about the fact that they are or are not going to get a raise.

If it is time for an employee’s evaluation and they are not going to get a raise based on their performance, it is important that the employer go over every detail as to why they have not gotten raise. This will either work one way or another. It will either motivate the employee to work harder so that they can get a raise the next time they get a review, or it will make them upset and their quality of work will suffer. Either way, the employer has to let the employee know what is going on and why they have not gotten a raise. Otherwise, the tasks that are not getting done will continue to not get done.

Doing employee evaluations the right way

It is important to give a meaningful performance feedback to employees so that employees can remain intimated about their work and achievements. It is the right way to boost the confidence and encourage employees. It is beneficial, in addition to evaluation to implement a goal setting system in order to motivate employees to enhance their performance levels. There are several companies that conduct formal evaluation annually.

The Bottom Line

Employee evaluations do not have to be stressful and it is important that the employee is told everything that the company wants them to know. If the employer leaves out things they wish the employee would change, they will not change them. Everybody has to be open. This way, both parties leave the evaluation happy.

At the end of the evaluation, it is always a good idea to have the employee give input and goals as to where they would like to be and grow in the company. This way, the employer knows what they are expecting from the company.