“Time for employee evaluations – again – oh this will be painful!”  I know I’ve heard that comment, heck I’ve made that comment!  No one looks forward to this process; it almost never goes as you would like whether you are reviewing or being reviewed.

 Owners and managers console themselves by believing all employees care about is the “money” part of the review.  But were you prepared to offer them any concrete feedback on performance and where they need to focus their development efforts?  Was the salary increase and bonus the only specific feedback you had to offer?  One of the keys to an effective review program (one that fosters employee development, motivation and retention) is no different than any other mission critical business activity – Planning!

 At annual review time it is important to gather information from various sources – the observations file you should have been keeping all year, internal performance measurement systems, and industry/professional association compensation data. 

 Now for something new in your preparation – talk to those you trust to recruit new talent to your organization.  No one knows better what the keys are to keeping top talent.

 If your organization is fortunate enough to have a dedicated Director of Talent Acquisition shouldn’t they really be your Director of Talent Management and be involved in acquiring AND developing that talent.  Many Human Resources Professionals are expected to be generalists and they engage a recruiter for specific talent acquisitions. Encourage them to have the type of recruiter relationship that adds value to your talent development and retention efforts as well.