Employee evaluations can help both a company and its employees identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for growth. Still, many staffers and their supervisors dread employee performance evaluation — but by investing in a few tools to make the process easier, you can also make it more enriching. These tools make employee assessment easier, and help everyone understand exactly what's involved in the company's employee performance assessment.

When you have everything you need for employee evaluations, you'll be able to conduct evaluations efficiently and give accurate feedback in a timely manner. Supplies for employee evaluation can help you:

1. Evaluate employees more quickly and efficiently.
2. Create a uniform system for assessing employees.
3. Offer employees more involvement in the process.
4. Reduce paperwork — and provide managers and supervisors more time for interacting with employees.
   

Action Steps for Handling Employee Evaluations
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Automate your employment evaluations with performance evaluation software

By purchasing Internet-based employee evaluation software, you give every manager and supervisor access to a standardized system for evaluating employees. You can control who has access to the program, and who can share and view information about individual employee assessments.

I recommend: EmpXtrack is a web-based employee evaluation system designed to make it easier for managers and supervisors to conduct accurate and efficient evaluations, and to ensure objectivity and transparency. The SuccessFactors Manager's Edition is a web-based system designed to reduce the time needed for employee evaluations. The company offers a five-day free trial.

Purchase an on-demand system to assess employee performance -- and how it affects company goals

Many Internet-based employee evaluation systems include guidance for every part of the process. These systems take managers step-by-step through employee evaluation, with detailed forms for everything from assessment to recommendation. With this kind of employee evaluation software, you can not only monitor employee performance, but also integrate with long-term company goals. Because this kind of employee evaluation software is web-based, you don't have to worry about installing or maintaining it -- giving you more time to evaluate employees.

I recommend: Halogen eAppraisal software includes not only employee appraisal forms, but also capabilities for things like organizational goal management and employee performance journals. SonicPerform's performance management software is designed to transform employee evaluation from a yearly event into an ongoing process used to strengthen the organization.

Download sample employee evaluation forms

You may not need an extensive system to help you automate employee assessments and evaluations, but you may prefer to at least download forms you can customize, instead of creating everything from scratch.

I recommend: At HR.BLR.com, download employee evaluation forms ranging from self-appraisal to assignment recommendation to action plan worksheets. At LawDepot.com, customize employee evaluation forms online, and instantly see the finished result before you download.

Tips & Tactics for Managing Employee Evaluations

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before you purchase supplies for employee evaluation, ask your managers and supervisors what kind of tools would the process easier. Consider organizing a focus group to gather suggestions and opinions of anything you're considering buying.

Too often, an employee performance evaluation ranks with dental visits as an unpleasant but necessary annual task. Yet when approached strategically, the employee review process can be painless — and profitable, once employees understand how their contribution affects the company's vision, values, and bottom line. Putting an effective evaluation system in place can:

1. Promote consistent, objective evaluations
2. Ensure that you conduct reviews regularly
3. Boost employee and manager participation in the review process.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Tap easy Web-based and software solutions

A growing number of companies offer easy-to-use Web-based solutions and software for evaluating employee performance.

I recommend: SuccessFactors offers online employee evaluation forms and software that work for companies of any size. Their Manager's Edition product is great for managing reviews of 1 to 25 employees. It's easy to set up and lets you create flexible, professional reviews quickly. ManagerAssistant is employee performance software that can help you automate, monitor and track employee reviews, evaluations and appraisals. TrakStar is Web-based employee review software that can be customized for businesses of any size. PerformancePro, from HRN Management Group, was designed by HR professionals to help small to mid-sized companies streamline and improve employee performance reviews.

Write your own or consult an appraisal authority

Employee performance evaluation service providers can help you custom-design an appraisal process.

I recommend: To do it yourself,order a six-part, editable employee assessment form from HRIT. Find a performance appraisal specialist at the HR-Guide.com directory or search for "performance appraisal" or "performance management" in the ASTD Buyers Guide, the online directory of the American Society of Training & Development. A variety of performance appraisal solutions are available at Business.com.

Partner with employee assessment software

Identify superstar employee traits and use your list as an evaluation benchmark.

I recommend: Tidemark software assesses core employee values with detailed employee evaluation forms, then creates a "Retention Profile" based on aggregate responses, then ranks each team member against it. Wonderlic offers a battery of online tests and personality profiles that can be used for hiring, evaluation and professional development.

Outsource employee evaluations

Stay lean and leave the HR functions to others.

I recommend: Check out service providers that offer to manage the employee assessment process (among other HR tasks) for you, including Gevity and Amcheck. Or, to keep costs down, find an independent consultant by searching the American Society of Training and Development Web site for a local chapter; then visit the local chapter's Web site (some have online member directories) and contact the chapter membership director for a referral to a performance appraisal specialist. Or look into providers of 360 reviews.

Spruce up your performance management skills

There are numerous good (and bad) ways to conduct an employee review. Make sure you know how to make it productive by learning online from human resources specialists.

I recommend: Check out HRIT's free tutorial on performance evaluations.

Keep up with the latest trends and strategies

New products and services that can help with employee evaluation are being introduced all the time.

I recommend: Business.com's "What Works for Business" blog is a great way to keep up with the latest HR solutions, trends and strategies for small and medium business -- including employee evaluation.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Gather information and others' input as appropriate, for the entire employee review period.
• •  Write the review from an objective, balanced perspective.
• •  Write an employee performance evaluation from an objective, balanced perspective.
• •  Obtain employee input.
• •  Provide feedback and coaching.
• •  Provide the employee with a copy of the review.

For many, the employee performance evaluation is simply a determinant of whether they'll get that raise, or if they're likely to be demoted or even fired. But employee evaluations can play a much larger role. By making the most of employee evaluation, you can help employees develop personally and professionally, and measure the organization's progress toward its long-term goals.

Ideally, your company's employee performance assessment starts with an in-depth evaluation of the employee's current performance. Just as important, however, is a look at the progress the employee's made and a plan for making further improvements. For the most effective employee evaluations:

1. Enlist a consultant to assess employee performance.
2. Create an action plan to help employees improve their job performance.
3. Incorporate employee evaluations into your goal-setting process.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Hire a consultant to assess employee performance

Many companies handle employee assessments and evaluations in-house, but enlisting the aid of an outside firm can produce more comprehensive results. And by hiring a consulting firm to evaluate employees, you give your human resources staff more time for team building or other morale-boosting activities.

I recommend: Gallup Consulting focuses on encouraging employee development and increasing communication between employees and their managers. HR Design Solutions specializes in performance management and other human resources functions for small businesses.

Use employee evaluations to create an action plan

Determining how well an employee is performing just the first step; identifying ways to strengthen their skills is equally important. Whatever system you choose, whether simple employee evaluation forms or more complex performance evaluation software, make sure it can help you outline an action plan.

I recommend: HRSG offers its i-Skillsuite, which includes an Assessment and Learning Manager, designed to help supervisors create personalized learning plans for their employees. Profiles International uses the 360 employee assessment method, and is designed to help employers create a plan for change, rather than merely document past performance.

Use employee assessments and evaluations for employee and company goal-setting

More than just an assessment of past performance, employee evaluations can also point the way to growth for employees and the company. If you use employee performance assessment to help employees set goals, and then align those goals with those for the company, you can keep the entire organization moving forward.

I recommend: Learn about the link between employee evaluations and goal-setting at SME Toolkit, and at The Farley Group's website, view an employee evaluation form that includes questions on how the employee is and plans to contribute to the company's long-term goals.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  For the most effective employee assessments and evaluations, encourage employees to play a larger role in the process. Help them understand what's involved in the evaluations and why, and make sure they know the procedure is designed to help both employees and the company to grow, and not merely to criticize or punish staff.

Employee evaluations can be a useful tool in developing one's skills and work performance that will prove beneficial to both the employee and the employer. Discussions held during employee evaluations provide an opportunity for supervisors and staff to establish goal management, performance management, compensation planning, development opportunities and time management.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Goal setting management

Goal setting management is a process that involves not only developing new goals, but also examining existing goals and refining them to address current processes within the organization, such as increasing cooperation and accountability.

I recommend: To learn more about goal setting management, refer to Sideroad.

Performance management

Performance management involves the examination of how an employee is progressing towards established goals. This process involves responding appropriately to enhance goals or correcting identified weaknesses to ensure employees work efficiently and effectively to their fullest potential, returning a profit for the organization.

I recommend: For more information on performance management, refer to the Free Management Library.

Compensation management

Compensation management, sometimes referred to as pay-for-performance, can act as an incentive for employees to work effectively and efficiently to increase their productivity. Organizations can also benefit from compensation management by retaining stellar employees, since their paycheck reflects their hard work.

I recommend: Refer to SuccessFactors for more information on compensation management.

Succession planning

Succession planning involves the foresight of an organization to plan for future situations that may arise when an employee leaves. This process requires that an organization identify an employee's strengths and provide training opportunities to that individual to increase their versatility within the organization. When another employee leaves the organization, the trained individual can move into the open position.

I recommend: Refer to Succession Planning 101 for more information on succession planning.

Learning and development

Providing learning and development opportunities to employees is critical to the success of any organization, not only to remain competitive in the industry but also to retain employees by allowing them to advance in their careers.

I recommend: Refer to Abbott to find out how learning and development can benefit your organization and staff.

Time management

Providing time management training to employees will allow them to work more efficiently and effectively, which will result in more productivity for your organization. Ways to improve one's time management include overcoming procrastination, maintaining activity logs and prioritizing tasks.

I recommend: Learn time management skills from Study Guides and Strategies.