By Michael W. Hill, Mobius Vendor Partners Executive Consultant, Birkman Professional

For many companies, November is employee evaluation time. It’s been said that for most people, giving a speech in public is one of their most dreaded fears. For most managers, the most dreaded fear is giving an employee an evaluation. Most managers would rather be evaluated themselves than give an evaluation.

But times have changed. We now know that to get our employees to perform at their highest, we need to give them on-going feedback, not just a once-a-year evaluation. So how do you do it?

An evaluation session in addition to on-going feedback sessions should be a time when supervisors and subordinates sit down and go over past performance based on “measurable” goals and lay out future “measurable” goals for performance improvement.

      When the economy was in a down cycle your company or department most likely eliminated (downsized) any employee in the company that wasn’t producing up to the company “standard.” What most companies found when they terminated these employees was that the company “standard” was not known by the employee.

Now what we are finding is that many out-of-off employees don’t know exactly what they are responsible for completing. An evaluation based on measurable criteria is the only way to solve this issue!

INC magazine October 2024 reports that roughly 60 percent of companies have cut Gen-Z employees they hired this year. 75 percent said that their young workers had “unsatisfactory” performance. I would question those companies and ask, is your performance criteria measurable?

    Most managers agree that employees are their most valuable asset. Therefore, shouldn’t we give them an evaluation/feedback session that works? One that measures their performance: daily, weekly, and yearly!

    Look at the statistics (measurements) available to the AFL and NFL football teams. The statistics are available to the players immediately after a game. Every player knows his personal statistics before he leaves the stadium. Number of tackles, interceptions, completions; these are all recorded and shared with the players. Isn’t this the way your employees should go home after a day at the office? Knowing exactly how they did!

The same measurements you use to evaluate an employee’s daily work can be expanded into their yearly program. These results can then be measured against the company standard, and an employee can evaluate himself or herself daily.

Once the overall “measurable “goals are set, feedback sessions become a “discussion” as to:

• What more can be done in certain areas?
• What should be done less in certain areas?
• What new things should be started and what should be stopped completely?

In today’s business climate, employees are paid for accomplishments not activities, so those are the areas you want to target with measurements. Clarity is essential. During the session, notes should be taken by both the manager and subordinate, thus at the end of the meeting there will be no doubt as to what is being measured and how.

    With agreed upon measurable goals, any employee can give themselves a daily (the best), weekly, or monthly evaluation. Employees will then begin to motivate themselves; they will know exactly what it takes to become a success based on the company’s measurable criteria. People love to win! Shouldn’t we let them know the score as they play?

    A good manager will be able to list many “measurable” goals for their particular department. Employees can also be a good source for measurable criteria.

    Goals that are set by using “measurable” criteria and shared with the employee make the dreaded employee evaluation much less stressful. Feedback time becomes a time for constructive discussion where both the employees’ and company needs are addressed, and measurable criteria are discussed for a salary increase and promotions. Isn’t that what matters most? Companies pursuing their goals in harmony with employees pursuing theirs. That’s a win, win for everyone.

Your company’s evaluation criteria needs to be well thought out. Some of your employees may currently be looking for employment elsewhere because you have failed to give them the measurements they are looking for!  

You may want our help. 

At Mobius’ Employee Experience – EX Consulting Employee Experience – Mobius Vendor Partners (mobiusvp.com) – we have the experience to help you make the best decision for your company and respond to your employees’ and your company’s needs. Contact us to get started.

Interested in learning more? Get a copy of Mike’s book, Measuring to Manage, on Amazon. 

Mike Hill is an author, speaker, and senior business consultant with Mobius Vendor Partners.