Do You Need to Evaluate Your Annual Performance Review?

Hospitality employers sometimes wonder if annual performance reviews are worth the time and energy they spend preparing for them. What’s the payoff? They cause stress for employees and may not be an effective method for evaluating and improving performance.

Is it time to reconsider your process?

Timeliness. In a consumer-facing business like hospitality, it’s essential that workers receive ongoing feedback. Allowing employees who are not performing their duties well to continue working at sub-par levels can lose you an untold number of return guests and referrals. Issues like slow service, inadequate attention to detail, an unpleasant demeanor, all need to be addressed on the spot – not months from now.

Workload. In such a high-turnover business, it can be a waste of valuable time to put aside essential daily tasks in order to work on formal reviews. Most managers conduct their annual reviews all at once. They are pressured and rushed – not providing the kind of thoughtful feedback that would truly improve performance.

Process. Does your current system live up to its potential? Many critical competencies are difficult to evaluate by ranking employees on a one-to-four scale or with terms like “meets expectations.” Managers may also be tempted to avoid giving a top ranking, thinking that no one is perfect. This can frustrate top-performing employees who feel that their efforts go unrecognized.

Accuracy.  It’s natural to remember the latest events better. The tendency is to focus on what the employee did in the last few weeks, not something awesome he did last January. Some managers keep an ongoing file, but not all have the time or the foresight to do this. Reviewing in this manner doesn’t provide an accurate view of the entire year.

Results. What is your goal for your annual reviews? To improve performance? Reward outstanding efforts? If performance reviews are part of your company culture and appear to be here to stay, consider how you can make them better.

  • For best results, focus on what they are doing right, not just what they are doing wrong.
  • Create a feedback file for every employee and commit to keeping it up-to-date all year it.
  • Consider giving monthly mini evaluations that you can just compile at the end of the year. It will be less effort for you and more accurate for your employees.

Need more tips on how to drive your employees to top performance? Hoping to add a few more outstanding employees to your business? Contact the hospitality recruiters at Horizon Hospitality. We can connect you with talented hospitality professionals for your restaurant, hotel or resort.

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