Performance review checklist for first-time managers
A performance review checklist keeps a first-time manager calm and fair. Year-end reviews fall in the next few weeks at many firms. If you are new to managing people, this is probably your first one. The steps below cover what to do before the meeting, during it and after it. Each step is short. You can print the lists and tick them off.
Why a checklist helps
Reviews matter, but many staff do not find them useful. Gallup reports that only 14 percent of employees strongly agree that their performance reviews inspire them to improve. It also reports that 74 percent of employees get a review once a year or less often. So the yearly talk carries a lot of weight. A new manager who walks in unprepared can waste it.
A checklist fixes three common problems. You forget part of the year. You talk too much and listen too little. You promise things and then do not follow up. Work through the lists in order and these problems get smaller.
Source: Gallup, "Maximize Performance Management," https://www.gallup.com/workplace/215927/maximize-performance-management.aspx
Before the meeting: prepare
Start two weeks ahead. Do not write the review the night before. Use this list.
- Book a private room and set aside at least an hour for each person.
- Tell the employee the date, the time and the purpose a week early.
- Find the job description and the goals you both agreed on earlier in the year.
- Review your own notes, emails and project records for the whole year.
- Pick three to five clear examples of strong work and one or two of work that needs to improve.
- Check that your examples are facts, such as dates, numbers and results, not guesses about character.
- Ask the employee to write a short self-review and send it back before the meeting.
The whole-year check matters most. Many managers recall the last month best. A project from February counts just as much as one from November. Notes taken month by month solve this. If you did not take notes this year, start now and keep them next year.
Source: Gallup, "Maximize Performance Management," https://www.gallup.com/workplace/215927/maximize-performance-management.aspx
Set clear goals first
A fair review compares a person with expectations they knew about. Gallup says employees need well-defined expectations to do excellent work. That includes a job description that fits the role and goals that the manager and the employee agree on.
Look at your team's goals. Were they written down? Were they clear enough to check? If a goal was vague, say so in the meeting. Do not mark a person down for a target nobody explained. Then plan the next set. Good goals say what, by when and how you will know. Write two or three for the coming year and agree on them together.
If this is a cross-cultural team, check how your staff like to give and hear feedback. Some people are used to direct words. Others expect a softer start. Ask each person how they prefer to talk about hard topics, and adjust your style.
Source: Gallup, "Maximize Performance Management," https://www.gallup.com/workplace/215927/maximize-performance-management.aspx
During the meeting: run it well
Keep the order simple. Use this list in the room.
- Open with the purpose and say how long you have.
- Ask the employee to speak first. Ask what went well and what was hard.
- Share your examples one at a time. Say what you saw, what happened as a result and what you would like next.
- Start with real strengths. Do not use praise as padding before bad news.
- Name the one or two areas to improve. Do not list ten.
- Stop and listen after each point. Write down what you hear.
- Agree on the next goals and on what help the person needs from you.
- Close by repeating the agreed actions in plain words.
No surprise should come up in this meeting. If you have a concern, the person should have heard it before. If this is the first time, own that. Say, "I should have raised this earlier," and set a plan from there.
Keep pay out of the main talk if you can. Once people hear about money, they stop hearing anything else. Hold a separate short talk on pay if your company allows it.
Source: Gallup, "Maximize Performance Management," https://www.gallup.com/workplace/215927/maximize-performance-management.aspx
After the meeting: follow up
The review is not the end. The follow-up decides whether anything changes. Try this list in the week after.
- Write a short summary of what you agreed and send it to the employee within two working days.
- Keep a copy in the place your company requires for staff records.
- Do the things you promised, such as training, a new project or a conversation with another team.
- Put a check-in in the calendar, such as once a month, to look at goals together.
- Ask for feedback on yourself. Ask what you could do better as a manager.
Gallup suggests running progress reviews rather than only a yearly performance review. These let a manager and an employee set tasks together, change goals when work changes and make sure the person has what they need. You do not have to wait for next December. A fifteen-minute talk each month does the job.
Source: Gallup, "Maximize Performance Management," https://www.gallup.com/workplace/215927/maximize-performance-management.aspx
A quick last check
Before you close the file on each person, answer four questions. Did I use facts from the whole year? Did the person speak as much as I did? Do we both know the goals for next year? Do I know what I promised and by when? If you can say yes to all four, you ran a fair review. If not, fix the gap in your next check-in.
You will not be perfect the first time. That is normal. Keep your notes, keep the list and improve a little each year. Local labour rules and company policies on staff records differ from country to country, so confirm yours with your HR team. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
Gallup, "Maximize Performance Management" (the page also points to Gallup's perspective paper "Re-Engineering Performance Management"): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/215927/maximize-performance-management.aspx