Tired of cumbersome administration around your performance reviews? With a user-friendly system, this important conversation becomes both easier and better. Check out these six advantages!
Are you and your team diligent about holding regular performance reviews? You're doing it right! For a manager to check in with employees in a more structured manner brings a host of benefits. Used correctly, these conversations can strengthen the relationship between managers and employees, boost motivation, and ensure you're on the right track towards your goals. Essentially, it's an excellent tool to ensure both the employee and the company reach their full potential.
However, for the company to fully benefit, it requires time and commitment from both employees and the manager. So, could a user-friendly tool minimize unnecessary hassle and help you focus on the right things? The answer is a resounding yes! Let's delve into how!
6 Reasons to Digitalize Performance Reviews
1. Prepare Your Responses at Your Own Pace
It goes without saying that both parties must think through what they want to achieve from the performance review to make the conversation genuinely meaningful. Making it as easy as possible to prepare your reflections and responses well in advance is therefore a smart move.
The great thing about a digital tool is that it eliminates the hassle of keeping track of documents scattered across folders or files. Instead, you fill in your notes in a digital form that's never more than a few clicks away.
Would an employee like to ponder their responses before sharing them with their manager (or vice versa)? No problem! Many solutions offer clever solutions for this, where you can save notes separately and then share them with each other when ready with just a click.
2. Everything in One Place
Tired of searching for last year's paperwork? Another great advantage of managing your performance reviews in a system is that everything is neatly organized in one place, making even your history easily accessible.
Want to be extra efficient? Use a tool that's fully integrated with all the other parts of your HRM system. This way, you're compiling not only performance review data but also personal and employment details, contracts, and competencies – all critical information about your employees into one digital archive. An excellent solution to avoid searching and double work (and who doesn't want that?).
Read more: Seven Pitfalls of the Staff Appraisal – and How to Avoid Them
3. Security Comes First!
(Sensitive) information sent via unencrypted email and stored locally on your computer? The old-school way of handling performance review documentation is not just inefficient – it's also precarious from a security perspective.
But with the right system, this concern diminishes. High levels of data protection and IT security are built into the platform, allowing you to focus fully on your conversation – no worries concerning GDPR mistakes and the risk of data breaches! Not to mention, modern systems include smart, role-based access control, allowing you to easily manage who in the company can see what, thereby minimizing the risk of information falling into the wrong hands.
4. Easily Translate Words into Actions
What do you aim to achieve moving forward? How will the employee develop further? And how do you plan to get there? An important part of the performance review is setting development goals and drafting an action plan. But perhaps you've also experienced that your notes are easily forgotten until it's suddenly time for the next review?
Another clever aspect of consolidating your documentation in a digital platform that's easily accessible for both is that it provides a simpler, clearer way to follow up on agreements. The tool helps you track progress, adjust goals as needed, and ensure things are being done in a transparent and efficient manner.
Additionally, many modern systems allow you and your employee to digitally sign the review and associated action plan – making it clear what has been agreed upon for both parties.
5. No Question Overlooked!
How do you ensure your reviews are conducted consistently regardless of the manager leading them? By using a digital system with standardized question templates, it becomes easy to maintain a uniform structure across the organization, ensuring all conversations are of the same high quality. The questions remain exactly the same for all employees, no important details are forgotten, and responses can be systematically compared over time.
6. Stay on Top of Deadlines with Smart Reminders
Forget post-it notes, missed deadlines, and endless email threads! Another really good reason to use a system for performance reviews is it takes care of remembering what needs to be done and when – so you don't have to. For instance, managers can receive a reminder when it's time to start preparing this year's reviews, and employees can be reminded when it's their turn to fill in their forms.
In a good system, you also get an overview that makes it really easy for you as a manager to keep track of what's been done regarding the reviews and what remains – a real time-saver for those responsible for a large staff group.
Streamline Performance Reviews with Flex HRM
Tired of poor oversight and documents scattered in various folders and files? In Flex HRM Employee, there's an efficient digital workflow, allowing you to fully focus on your conversation and let the system handle the rest. Create ready-made templates that you customize to ensure questions are relevant for you. Let the employee fill in their answers directly in the system, enter your feedback as a manager, and share the document when both of you are ready. Automated notifications are sent out to remind you when it's time to fill in the form, share, and sign. Quick, easy, and secure!
Flex HRM Employee is part of Flex HRM, our all-in-one solution that compiles everything for payroll and HRM in one place. Contact us if you want to learn more!
