The annual review. There is not much more dreaded in the life cycle of an employee.
Especially if you are the type of person that likes feedback but don’t receive it often. On the flip side, managers typically don’t understand the importance of providing feedback and think the once a year review is sufficient. There are many reasons frequent feedback loops are important.
According to Gallup research from a few years back, 47% of employees report that they received feedback from their manager “a few times or less” in the past year. From their most recent report on employee engagement in the US, Gallup found those “that strongly agreed that their supervisor keeps them informed about what is going on in the organization” slipped from 49% in 2020 to 36% in 2021.
There is a shift that managers can take to increase employee engagement and productivity. If you are only meeting with your team members once a year in a review type setting and aren’t providing feedback loops for them throughout the year, you are doing it wrong. You aren’t providing them the information they need to be successful in your organization.
Here are 6 ways/reasons frequent feedback loops are important, why you should meet with team members regularly, and not put a huge emphasis on annual reviews:
1. Establish a schedule for meeting with team members. This can include going over assignments they are tasked with and future projects. You can discuss issues they are having and provide coachable moments.
2. The consistent feedback loop allows for you to have a pulse on where your team is excelling. It also lets you see where they are struggling so you can support them.
3. Expectations become clearer.
4. Goals and vision can be communicated more frequently.
5. Instead of an annual review, consider a quarterly review.
6. You should never bring up something in an annual review that you haven’t already discussed with a team member. There should be no surprises.
You are the leader and manager and as you act as a coach, you can coach your team members to be high performing individuals in your organization. You set the tone and rhythms in your organization. Establish healthy patterns that increase employee clarity and engagement. That then translates to the bottom line, and everyone is happy.
I strategically help business owners develop their leadership competencies, implement ways to be more strategic to increase revenue, develop workflows that affect the bottom line, and to create work-life integration so they live a life they love. Set up a free 15 minute first steps meeting. Click Here.
Own a business? Sign up for your own Business Breakthrough Assessment to discover where you can be more strategic in your business and see a minimum increase of $10k. Sign up here.
Stephanie German is a business strategist, adjunct professor, and speaker. She holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and loves giving back to her community in a variety of ways. When she’s not coaching clients or writing about leadership, Stephanie is usually headed to the mountains or the beach with her family, drinking savory wine, or working on the latest project with her husband. Stephanie’s greatest desires are to raise up the next generation of leaders while raising her own children to be strong, independent, and brave. She lives in Fresno, California with her husband Blake and her three spunky daughters, Cara, Kinsey, and Peyton. She is the best-selling author of So Your Boss Can’t Lead?