A year-end review gives both employees and employers the opportunity to reflect on accomplishments, pinpoint processes that can be improved, and keep team members engaged and looking ahead. In fact, workers who receive regular feedback are more engaged and motivated on the job
What you’ll learn
What you’ll learn
Key takeaways
- Year-end performance reviews are an opportunity to “take stock” and find ways to contribute to an employee’s professional growth
- Most companies use a review as a tool for aligning individual employee goals with company priorities, which can boost motivation, productivity, and employee retention
- Effective year-end reviews take a balanced approach: providing specific, constructive feedback while maintaining a positive and supportive tone that encourages employee growth and development
Constructive year-end performance reviews are a cornerstone of the human capital management methodology, helping organizations to effectively invest in employee development.
In this guide, we’ll discuss the reasons why many employers rely on year-end reviews, ways to structure them, and how they can benefit both employees and employers.
What is a year-end review?
In a few words, a year-end review is an opportunity to assess employee performance over the past year and provide meaningful feedback. It is typically conducted by a supervisor or a member of the human resources team. Most reviews take place in person, though some companies will use video conferencing, such as Zoom or Google Meet, for remote individuals.
Now that we know the basics, let’s find out more about why these progress reports are used in the first place.
Understanding the purpose of year-end reviews
In a nutshell, a year-end evaluation is a formal documentation of employee progress that creates a dialogue about expectations, challenges, and successes.
It often includes:
- Setting goals for the upcoming year
- Discussing career development opportunities
- Reviewing previously documented objectives the employee prioritized
It may also be tied to compensation decisions such as salary raises or bonuses. Some managers might be tempted to breeze through this process, particularly for employees who have excelled in their work over the past year. However, employee performance reviews offer not-to-be-missed opportunities for both celebration and growth. And most of the time employees genuinely want this type of feedback.
What employees are looking for
For employees, a review can be an opportunity to receive recognition, discuss career aspirations, and get clarity on expectations. In some cases, it can be a chance to ask for help to reduce workload, have a candid conversation about a pay raise (and what needs to be achieved to earn one), or ask about ongoing training or education opportunities.
What employers are looking for
At the same time, your business can better identify top talent and skill gaps. It also may reveal information needed to determine upcoming promotions, or if it’s time to look outside its organization for a certain skillset. These are valuable tools for talent management and succession planning which can play a role as you create and implement workforce development.
Now that we better understand the reasoning behind scheduling a year-end rundown, let’s find out more about what they include.
How to conduct a year-end review: tips and examples
The more organized your process is, the better your employee performance reviews will go. Here are tips for conducting effective reviews, as well as end-of-year performance review examples.
Reflect on accomplishments and strengths
Kicking off the conversation with accomplishments and strengths is a great place to start a performance review. This gives you a chance to focus on what has gone well and have the meeting begin on a high note. As you reflect, it’s a good idea to share both individual and team accomplishments, plus specific examples of what you were pleased to see in this employee’s work over the past year. You can also ask employees to weigh in on their personal highlights.
Address areas for improvement
On the flip side, you’ll want to be ready to address areas for growth and improvement. Even the best of the best have something that they can work on. Again, it’s a good idea to share specific ways that each employee can evolve and ask for their input on how they might get over the next hurdle.
Ideally, areas for growth should not be a surprise but something that has been discussed and worked on throughout the year — especially if you keep an annual running one-on-one agenda for meeting notes. Additionally, if you can tie areas for improvement into how they can lead to career growth and advancement, this harder-to-hear information comes with a benefit for the employee.
Balance feedback with positivity
From the outset, share your positive intent for the review. Then make sure your discussion balances that positivity with actionable feedback. Even employees who have a lot of room for growth likely have some strong suits to touch on. For instance, you can offer, “I really appreciate that you are on time to work and to every meeting — that shows you care about your work” before diving into areas for improvement. Another approach is to talk about how the employee’s strengths and weaknesses have evolved over the past year.
Clarify and align personal goals with company priorities
This is an important step that sometimes falls by the wayside. When your workforce’s personal and professional goals align with your business’s, it improves motivation, sparks productivity, and reduces turnover in your company.
To line up an employee’s personal aims with company priorities, try the following:
- Start by looking at your company’s overall mission and vision. You and your employee can even read these aloud together and discuss the components that are especially impactful or meaningful.
- Then, speak with your employees about their personal aspirations and see if they meet up anywhere. Ideally, this should be part of ongoing conversations.
- Together, look for ways to connect the dots. For instance, if your company contributes to local affordable housing and the team member is passionate about developing their public speaking skills, find a way for this individual to spread the news about the community work you are doing.
Try to brainstorm a few ideas for aligning the personal and the professional. This offers an opportunity for partnership and gives employees the chance to feel more invested in your company.
Did you know?
When it comes to handling human resource responsibilities, over 65% of employers take care of HR to-dos without seeking assistance.
Encourage active listening
Most employees want and need to be heard — a year-end review can be an ideal time for active listening. By giving your workers an opportunity to lead the conversation, you may glean both interesting and useful information.
Ask them what has gone well over the past year and what hasn’t. Let them share their immediate and future career goals. And ask what they need from you to thrive. Rather than just talking during the review, ensure that you also allow ample time for employees to ask questions and listen carefully to the responses you receive.
If you’re unsure where to start, below is a list of conversation-starters you can add to the mix.
- What are you most looking forward to this holiday season?
- What work are you most proud of over the last year? What was most frustrating for you?
- How do you feel about your progress over the last year? And the progress your team has made?
- How did the pace of work feel this year?
- Whose support has made a difference for you?
- Over the last year, what has been your most significant area of growth?
- What specific goals do you have for the next year?
- How can I be a better manager to you?
- Are there any other questions you have or topics you’d like to cover?
Provide specific feedback
Consider the difference between “You need to work a little faster” and “Ideally, I would love to see you completing twelve widgets every hour.” Specific feedback gives employees a concrete goal to wrap their heads around and work towards. General feedback can be confusing and signal that you don’t have a pulse on what they’re working on. The more specific the feedback, the better. Just remember to balance room for growth with praise so that the performance review doesn’t blindside your employee.
Consider structured review templates
Using a year-end review template helps to ensure that performance reviews are standardized and fair across your business. They also help you identify employee strengths and weaknesses, as well as fostering open communication. If you don’t already have a template that managers use for employee reviews, this is a great tool for HR to offer. You can create an attractive template or a simple form. The important thing is that it’s easy to fill out and understand.
Here are the items every performance review should include:
- A check-in and check-up: Take time to check in with the person you are reviewing and ask how they are doing
- An employee self-evaluation: This should include space for strengths, weaknesses, goals, and opportunities. Workers should complete this ahead of time so you can review their responses together
- Your performance evaluation: Your company can use a numerical scale or open-ended qualitative feedback to review each employee
- Offer of support: Make sure that you are asking each employee how you can better support them
- Key takeaway: Try to end on a positive note and ensure that all of the employee’s questions are answered. Offer to circle back in a specific amount of time
Year-end reviews reap rewards for employees and employers
Year-end reviews are a valuable opportunity for employers and employees to reflect, set goals, and come up with a plan that everyone can be happy about for the year ahead. If administrative tasks are eating up too much of your time, OnPay can help streamline HR processes so you can focus on what really matters: making reviews productive and actionable. See how our all-in-one HR tools can simplify onboarding, org charts, and more to keep your team moving forward. Wishing you the best of luck as you schedule reviews in the year ahead!
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Jon Davis is the Sr. Content Marketing Manager at OnPay. He has over 15 years of experience writing for small and growing businesses. Jon lives and works in Atlanta.