It is a time-honored tradition in businesses across the country: Once a year ­– typically on the anniversary of an employee’s first day on the job – they file into their manager’s office for a review. Their performance over the past year is appraised, feedback is given, and, perhaps, raises and promotions are discussed.

Employees expect it but business owners may sometimes wonder if it’s all worth the effort. Is the traditional annual review really the best way of recognizing employees, keeping them engaged, and providing the necessary criticisms or commendations? Are there more effective measures that could be taken to overhaul or even replace the annual review?

Rethinking the annual review

Certainly, more and more small-business owners are rethinking the annual review. They have their reasons, too. One of the biggest reasons this model is falling somewhat out of favor is that an annual review disallows employers to offer frequent and specific feedback. The implication of the review may, for some, be that regular feedback isn’t needed about specific tasks; instead, the annual review serves as a more general appraisal of the employee’s progress.

Doing away with the annual review and offering a more ongoing, continuous feedback process may also be a way for small-business owners to set more specific and unique goals for each employee – and to motivate employees with the potential for more regular pay increases.

Why reviews still matter

These criticisms of the annual review model are well-founded and worth noting. With that said, the annual review has stood the test of time and remains helpful in many business environments. It has its drawbacks, but also some significant advantages.

Foremost among them is the simple reality that all employees need feedback, and the annual review process provides a consistent way for ensuring that this feedback is given and that benchmarks are tracked appropriately. A manager may do away with reviews in hopes of offering more consistent and frequent feedback throughout the year. But without a specific review structure in place, there is nothing to keep this from slipping through the cracks of daily business operation.

Incidentally, the advantages of the annual review are not just experienced by the employee but also by the manager. Having an annual review process helps keep the manager involved in the process. The manager has to work with the employee to reach common goals, and ensure that there is a transparent accountability process for these goals.

Different forms of appraisal

The important point to make here is that all companies need to have some form of employee review and feedback process. The only question is: Should it be done annually or in some other way?

There are many alternatives to the traditional, once-a-year employee-manager review. Some companies have adopted quarterly reviews; others, peer reviews or even self-reviews. The answer for your company may be the traditional approach, or something else entirely.

All employees need, and deserve, to know how they’re doing, and it benefits the manager to be consistently engaged in the process, whatever that process looks like.

About the Author
Amanda E. Clark is the president and editor-in-chief of Grammar Chic Inc., a full-service professional writing company. She is a published ghostwriter and editor, and currently under contract with literary agencies in Malibu, California, and Dublin, Ireland.

Since founding Grammar Chic in 2008, Clark, along with her team of skilled professional writers, has offered expertise to clients in the creative, business and academic fields. The company accepts a wide range of projects and often engages in content and social media marketing, drafts resumes, press releases, Web content, marketing materials and ghostwritten creative pieces. Contact Clark at www.grammarchic.net.