Adjo, after one month of working with Jobberman Ghana as a community marketer, received a dressing down in her performance review. She was told she lacked teamwork skills, attention to detail, and punctuality and didn’t meet deadlines, amongst other things. 

Adjo is currently feeling disheartened and uncertain about her future at Jobberman. Her performance review was not as positive as hoped, and she is on probation. In this challenging moment, she wonders if she can turn things around and demonstrate her potential before the end of her probationary period.

Adjo confides in her colleague, who tells her to become more self-aware by reviewing what behaviours affect her productivity at work. Upon doing that, she realises that she is disorganised.

For the next month, Adjo started to try to be more disciplined, revising her negative behaviours that influenced her performance. She revised all her creatives before posting them on social media, prioritised her projects, thereby hitting deadlines, and became punctual. 

During her next performance review, Adjo’s manager was impressed with her progress. He noted her improved organisational skills, punctuality, attention to detail and other evident changes. Adjo’s efforts had paid off, and she successfully completed her probationary period. 

Even the most competent employees can experience a dressing down during performance reviews. However, it is up to the employee or the individual to utilise the feedback, whether negative or positive, to grow in whatever endeavour one finds him/herself. This article shows you just that- how to utilise performance reviews.  

What is a Performance Review?

First of all, according to Research Gate, in a book published on its site, “performance appraisal (PA) refers to the methods and processes used by organisations to assess the level of performance of their employees and provide them with feedback. “(Makhubela & Malatji, 2024)

But this might be too ambiguous, so let’s explain it simply. A performance review is a formal assessment of employee performance and productivity. In a review, the employee has a one-on-one conversation with his/her manager. They are given feedback concerning their appraisal and what they can do to improve in certain areas specified. But what’s the difference between a performance appraisal and a performance review?

Importantly, a performance appraisal seeks to give feedback about the general performance of the employee relating to specific criteria. For instance, university students are sometimes sent a Google form to fill out to review how their teacher performed during a semester. The sheet contains the criteria by which the lecturer is reviewed. That is a performance appraisal. Unlike an appraisal, a review seeks to address how to become better, effective, and productive based on the prior appraisal. (Clearer now?)

But then, how should employers and employees utilise performance reviews?

How to Utilise Performance Reviews?

1. Employee Development

The goal of every review is to make sure the employee becomes productive and aligns their tasks and behaviour, amongst others, to become the perfect fit, just like in the case of Adjo. When Adjo realised that the review was not intended to play her down, she began putting in effort to become better, and yes, she did get better as a digital marketer. 

2. Recognition and Motivation

Employers can use performance reviews as a recognition and motivational reward. Who doesn’t like recognition? And who on earth doesn’t like motivation? Be it financial or extrinsic, positive or negative, the reviews stand to empower an employee. When they do well, their work will be recognised and appreciated in the next review, like Adjo. Truthfully, employees would be eager to perform well to receive that positive review.

3. Career Development

Professional life calls for a rise in career. We’ve seen junior employees rise to a senior role or even an executive role. They did that by utilising their performance reviews. Remember, every promotion calls for a different level of performance, and to get there, one must embrace reviews as they come. 

4. Clarity of Expectations

During performance reviews, employees receive feedback on their performance, including what they are expected to do, such as teamwork, attention to detail, punctuality, or any other. Don’t leave them to decide what works or does not work for their role. When this happens, they receive a clear direction on what to work on. So, employers are encouraged to provide honest feedback during reviews. 

5. Improve performance: 

Only after Adjo received her feedback did she start working on it. Performance reviews are strategic to employee development. Employees should take reviews as a sense of direction and how to become better. Only by that can you utilise the session. 

6. Self-Assessment

Performance reviews also help employees conduct self-assessments, encouraging them to be more open to criticism during the review session. This enhances their interest in accomplishing growth and development.  

7. Strategic Workforce Planning

Employers should use performance reviews to target talents in the company. These talents should be trained and allowed to rise as they go through the review process. Organisations can also use this data to plan for their future leadership. 

Performance reviews are a great way to develop your career. Organisations are encouraged to utilise them to create strategic workforce planning, improve work performance, and grow the careers of their employees. Also, employees are encouraged to receive reviews as a means to their peak performance.