As fall rolls around, many companies are approaching the end of the actual, or fiscal year. Budgets are finalized, reports are approved, and in the back of your mind you’re aware of something else on the horizon: performance reviews.

Because most people don’t look forward to this experience, it’s easy to put off preparations until the last minute. This can cause scrambling on both ends – with the employee desperately trying to improve their performance and the manager trying to determine how to rate the employee. Instead of procrastinating, try these steps to prepare for end-of-the-year reviews today.

Determine the system ahead of time

In order to effectively evaluate, it’s important to know what you want to measure. Walking into a review without parameters can waste time and cause frustration for those on both ends. If you haven’t clearly communicated what you expect, your employee might pursue other tasks that aren’t a priority and miss key areas of improvement. As an employee, you might think you’re doing great work worthy of a raise only to learn you’ve been missing the mark.

Developing a system prior to reviews can help guarantee thorough and accurate reviews as well as guidance for employees to make sure they’re focused on the proper tasks and growing in their role in the company.

Employees, don’t wait until your boss gives this to you to think about it. If standards haven’t been set, schedule time to meet with your manager and request a better system for evaluation.

Set up periodic meetings

When you only discuss performance once a year, it can be easy to only care about performing well once a year. By checking in regularly, you’re able to see what’s working and what isn’t and make any changes. You’re forced to always be aware of goals instead of forgetting about the overall plan for the year in the day-to-day work.

Document all conversations

This is good for a number of reasons. Instead of getting trapped in a he-said-she-said, you know exactly what was discussed in terms of compensation, reason for feedback, etc.

Trust Unemployment Tracker

When employee performance reviews turn to unemployment claims, you want to make sure you have the right system in place to guarantee you aren’t overpaying. Request an Unemployment Tracker demo today to learn how our software is right for you.