5 Common Managers Mistakes During Employee Reviews

Employee reviews are critical in assessing performance, aligning goals, and fostering career development. However, poorly executed reviews can undermine these objectives and lead to confusion, demotivation, and attrition. According to Gallup, “only 14% of employees strongly agree their performance reviews inspire them to improve” (Gallup, 2019). Let’s discuss five common manager mistakes during employee reviews and how a tool like Performance Scoring can help avoid these pitfalls.

1. Making it a High-Stakes, Annual Event
   Annual reviews create a high-pressure environment that could induce stress and performance anxiety. A report from Adobe reveals that “64% of employees find annual performance reviews to be stressful” (Adobe, 2017). PerformanceScoring’s real-time coaching and performance management features make performance discussions low-stakes and high-frequency, offering continuous feedback and alignment.
2. Lack of Preparation
   Managers often wing employee reviews, thinking their experience and intuition are enough. This results in vague feedback that lacks actionable insights. Performance Scoring offers a wealth of data-driven insights through its analytics dashboard, allowing for a more structured, fact-based discussion.
3. Ignoring Employee Input
   Reviews should be a two-way street. According to Harvard Business Review, “69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were better recognized” (HBR, 2016). Performance Scoring’s Pulse Survey tool allows managers to gather employee feedback, making the review process more collaborative.
4. Focusing Solely on Weaknesses
   Managers often spend the majority of a review focused on areas for improvement, ignoring an employee’s strengths. This creates a demoralizing experience. With PerformanceScoring, managers can balance feedback by tracking and highlighting both strengths and weaknesses in real-time.
5. Ignoring Follow-Up and Accountability
   According to CEB, now Gartner, “only 45% of HR leaders think annual performance reviews are an accurate appraisal for employees’ work” (CEB/Gartner, 2018). Follow-ups are often ignored, making the whole process feel futile. PerformanceScoring’s tracking features ensure that commitments made during the review are monitored and revisited, holding both parties accountable.

Avoiding these common manager mistakes during employee reviews are key to a productive and constructive review process. By indeed leveraging the real-time coaching, data-driven insights, and feedback tools offered by PerformanceScoring, managers can turn employee reviews into powerful motivators for growth and improvement.