Year end employee reviews are notorious for not being able to provide a clear view of an employee’s performance throughout the entire year.

Often, instead of helping to improve the capabilities of your staff, year end reviews result in anxiety for employees and frustration for management who consider the process as a huge waste of time. When you obtain an accurate view of staff performance throughout the year, you’re able to address performance issues on a more frequent basis while eliminating misunderstandings between managers and their subordinates.

Implementing a system that tracks the performance of employees throughout the year allows employees to better understand the impact of the quality of their work while giving managers and supervisors a chance to positively influence the development of subordinates on a more frequent basis. Performance issues that are recorded and addressed immediately increase the effectiveness of the feedback that employees receive, while enriching the information base that comprises your year end review.

Implementing a 360 degree review system increases the depth of knowledge that you accumulate about your staff. This type of evaluation tool records feedback from peers, managers and customers to develop a better view of how employees impact the success of your organization. Obtaining opinions about employees from multiple points of view helps to eliminate bias that can result from getting an opinion from a single source.

Instead of holding back suggestions for months and springing them on employees during an annual evaluation, deal with issues immediately and record them in the database. This way, staff will understand the reasons behind the conclusions you reach and your evaluation won’t be missing key pieces of data that produce an accurate portrayal of your employee’s performance throughout the year.

Giving frequent feedback helps employees improve their performance on a regular basis, giving them a chance to reach a mutual set of goals that benefits both the individual and the entire team.

Companies such as Accenture, Microsoft and The Gap, among others, have implemented continual feedback in response to assertions made by Kevin Murphy, a Colorado State University Scientist. He states that, because of inaccurate data and biases, “annual appraisals end up as a source of anxiety and annoyance rather than a source of useful information.”

If you want to carry out yearly employee reviews that show ones performance throughout the year, then you should invest in 360 degree employee review tool. At Grapevine Evaluations, our web-based 360 degree feedback survey tool includes comprehensive reporting, so you and your employees can get an accurate understanding of what matters: how they are perceived from management and co-workers, and where they can improve. Contact us today to learn more about our product.