Break the monotony of performance reviews with a customized review cycle

  Many companies want to modernize the performance review cycle with their employees. Traditional performance reviews, in particular, have become a “rut” and have proven ineffective for personal growth and team development. These reviews should be more flexible, simpler, and more tailored to individual needs. The desire and the will are there, but actually implementing the changes is often put off “for a little while.” This is mainly because HR, managers, and employees lack the right tool. A comprehensive online development environment offers a solution.

The old approach is pointless and demotivating

The old performance review and appraisal meetings no longer work. Numerous studies in recent years have already shown that the traditional “performance and appraisal” cycle is demotivating and even counterproductive. The Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam conducted seven years of research on this topic. Key conclusion: both employees and managers find traditional performance reviews pointless-a waste of time and money. They also find them demotivating and unfair. The latter is because many other factors also play a role in the evaluation. In his book *Het Nieuwe Belonen* (*The New Way of Rewarding*), researcher Kilian Wawoe therefore advocates for the abolition of the “performance review.” And he advocates for a better, more modern cycle of conversations: more effective, fairer, smoother, with two-way dialogue, and-ideally-more continuous communication between manager and employee.

A Source of Frustration in the Modern Workplace

Many companies do want to make the transition, but they often keep putting it off “for just one more year.” After all, how do you actually make the transition? And they often still view the lack of the right tools as a “barrier.” So, just to be safe, they prefer to stick with the old system “for a little while longer” because it’s transparent and everyone is familiar with it. Much to the frustration of both employees and managers. Because the old performance review cycle-which has been around for decades-is truly no longer sustainable, says development expert and educational specialist Annet van Duren. “The traditional performance review cycle is actually always a disappointment. Employees experience it more as a judgmental review and return to work demotivated.” She also advocates for a modern performance review cycle based on development-oriented conversations. The old, traditional approach is also no longer suited to today’s faster-paced and more flexible work environment. Often, goals are set in January so that by December, an employee’s performance can be evaluated to see if they’ve met them. This approach fails to take into account the challenges and complexity of the work. As a result, the goals are often already outdated by February or March.

More Frequent, Brief Check-ins

In a modern review cycle free from the old routine of mandatory performance reviews, employees can also take on a greater role-both within the evaluation system and in steering their own development, as expert Jacco van den Berg advocates in his book *Het Nieuwe Beoordelen*. “Let them contribute ideas about their own development. When setting goals, you can ask what contribution they themselves think they’ll make during the upcoming performance period.” This can happen, for example, during a planning meeting at the start of the year, but also at other times. The author also advocates for more frequent performance review opportunities. “A continuous dialogue is better. Don’t just go through that mandatory ritual once a year; instead, have regular, short, and impactful conversations in which you look ahead. It’s, of course, very strange that an employee only finds out after six months or a year that something isn’t going well. If you have more frequent brief conversations about someone’s role, they can improve more quickly.” As part of modernizing the performance evaluation and feedback cycle, many organizations are focusing on more ongoing coaching of employees, with motivational and goal-oriented feedback to support their development. So not because of a performance review required by “the boss,” but driven by intrinsic motivation: because employees want it themselves and also see its value firsthand.

A Single Flexible Development Platform

This desired, more contemporary approach does, however, require a new “development system” that effectively facilitates the intended simplicity, flexibility, and personalized customization. Ideally, a single platform where all actions, documents, performance data, and reports are clearly consolidated. And, if possible, with an online dashboard that provides (real-time) insight into the performance of employees and the organization. Modern online tools make this possible, such as Hrmforce Development. This serves as a single, comprehensive, and efficient solution for facilitating individual and team development and (team) performance. It offers a complete set of tools for HRM, managers, and employees, enabling them to design a customized development process. Users utilize this to manage (mid-year) evaluations and other meetings, and, for example, to work with competency models. They can use it to generate individual development plans, analyze strengths and weaknesses, or organize 90- or 360-degree feedback, for example. With such a comprehensive environment, the “lack of a technical tool” no longer needs to be an obstacle.

Breaking New Ground

With this approach, organizations can truly explore new avenues with their performance cycle and appraisal interviews. It also opens new doors for the organization, employees, and managers. It then becomes primarily a matter of choosing how to implement the new approach. This can be done in phases by starting simple. Over time, additional features can be added. This, of course, depends on your organizational goals and developments. You can also go quite “far” with this. A great example is the IT company Computest. This self-managing organization, with about a hundred employees, moved away from traditional performance reviews. Here, colleagues within the various teams began evaluating one another. The organization conducted its own research into how its employees best give and receive feedback from one another. During one-on-one meetings, people tended to get nervous more quickly and would often become defensive when receiving negative feedback. “A conversation with a colleague gives you more breathing room to say what you really think. We also focus on what’s going well and what we appreciate about each other-something you don’t usually do on a daily basis,” explained Computest founder Hartger Ruijs.

Involving Clients in Employee Evaluations

Those who want to take it a step further can also give customers a role in evaluating employees, as is often done in 360-degree feedback. The Brabant-based engineering firm Coenradie went one step further and linked employee performance directly to customer satisfaction. At this firm, fifty employees around the world provide measurement solutions across various sectors. Measuring their own customer satisfaction ensures that service delivery can be continuously optimized. The results are shared internally, but in a casual manner and based on team performance. The findings are displayed internally in real time and uncensored on the homepage of the intranet. If a customer wishes, this can be done with the sender present. Employees can respond to the feedback internally. And if necessary, they contact the customer directly. This increases customer satisfaction, and employees receive a bonus every time a customer gives a rating of 10. And that’s happening more and more often. “The average customer rating also increases over time. We now know how satisfied customers are with each project-and why. If necessary, we can take immediate action, and customers appreciate that,” says Director Wouter Coenradie. Of course, as an organization, you don’t have to go that far. Above all, a modern feedback cycle must be supported by a platform that facilitates the desired flexibility and customization around the conversations-especially as these increasingly take the form of shorter coaching sessions.