Missing Evaluations: How to Handle – Ask #HR Bartender
Now THIS is a really good question. While it is a unique situation, it’s one that happens.
Hello! Just looking for advice on how to handle the following situation: We’ve had a lot of management turnover in the last year and there are several employees who did not receive their 2014 annual review. Their former supervisors are no longer with the company and the new supervisors are needing to complete 2015 annual evaluations. What is the best way to handle missing evaluations (2014) if their current supervisor did not even work for the company at that time?
Whether you love or hate performance reviews, employees expect them. In many organizations, they drive merit increases and promotions. So missing evaluations can have consequences. Here are three things to consider:
Cover your legal bases. I do not know the state, country, industry, etc. in the situation. Spend a couple dollars and call your friendly labor attorney to make sure you are in compliance. It’s possible you might need to document the situation for the employee’s personnel file so everyone can remember what happened. Make the call and find out directly from them.
Talk with managers. Remind them of the purpose for performance reviews. Providing employees with feedback is important. Also, use this as a moment to discuss the performance review process. Are there steps that can be put into place so this situation doesn’t happen again? I do not know if this organization uses focal or anniversary reviews, it might be worth having a conversation about the pros and cons. It’s also possible that using performance management software can help to alleviate this situation.
Talk with the employees. Let them know that not doing their review was certainly not the company’s intention. Make sure the employee knows the current review process. And confirm for them that they will get a review this year. This is also a good time to remind employees about performance expectations, etc. Use the conversation as a way to reset the performance review process.
The important thing here is don’t sweep missing evaluations under the rug. It’s a mistake and it needs to be addressed. But the organization has an opportunity to recover and even make the performance management process stronger for the future.
Image courtesy of Sharlyn Lauby
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