PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Marc Gelbke, Contributing Writer, US Golf Managers Association Conducting performance reviews with your employees is an important part of a manager’s responsibilities. It is a great tool to see where you are in terms of productivity, knowledge, and performance. Additionally, you get the opportunity to see how each of your employees thinks they are doing during their self-evaluation, which usually leads to an “in-the-middle” balance of where they actually are, and you the manager can now prepare a plan for improvements. Employees often see performance reviews as a session of criticism, but in actuality, it is used to discover ways in which an employee’s skills can be better utilized to fulfill your facility’s goals and objectives. When administering performance reviews, plan in advance and schedule specific appointment dates with your staff. I would recommend beginning preparations at least 2-3 weeks in advance. Allow at least one hour per review, and provide your staff a blank copy of your review form, instructing them to use it for a self-evaluation form to be completed by the employee and returned by the appointment date session for your review. Your performance review should into account your specific subject areas of review, such as quality of work, punctuality, attention to detail, job knowledge, judgment, decision-making skills, reliability, attitude, and any other aspect that you feel is relevant to your operation. Your review should also include short definitions next to each subject area to avoid any kind of misunderstandings as to what specifically you are looking for as a response. For example, “Punctuality = meeting deadlines and completing assignments on schedule.” Understand that your performance reviews are an important part of each of your employee’s personnel file, and can be used to determine promotions, pay increases, and even disciplinary actions, if needed. Reviews should be conducted at least annually for each employee, but it is a good idea to do them more often, such as every six months, to be able to follow progress guidelines and improvements. Remember, performance reviews are not to criticize employees but to improve your staff, your facility, and your overall operation.