Performance reviews can be stressful for managers and employees. But what happens after the performance review is just as crucial as the review itself. Follow-up actions can make or break the progress achieved during the review process.

It's essential for managers to understand the importance of performance review follow-up and how it can help sustain progress. Consistent follow-up allows managers to work alongside employees, helping them overcome performance challenges while holding them accountable for agreed-upon goals.

In this blog, we will dive into:

• The importance of performance review follow up
• Tips for effective performance review follow up
• How software can help with performance review follow up

With our tips and insights, you'll be able to create an effective performance review follow up plan that helps drive employee and business success. 

Why is employee performance review follow-up important?

Performance review follow up is just as important as the review itself. When managers and employees don't follow up, the review process becomes less effective. Performance review follow up helps ensure employees are using the feedback and tips from the review. It increases alignment with two-way conversations about goals, progress, and performance. 

Performance review follow-up helps ensure feedback translates to action, improvement, and growth. When managers and employees keep an open dialogue, they can build on insights from the initial review. They can continue to discuss strengths, areas of improvement, and progress. And they can pivot as needed as business context and employee goals shift. 

Tips for effective performance review follow-up

When it comes to performance-review follow up, there are a few key things managers and HR can do to maximize performance and employee engagement.

1. Take great notes.

After the performance review meeting is over, keep important points top of mind in your follow up. Taking good notes during the performance review is important. Your notes will serve as a guide that outlines key takeaways and next steps. They can help you formulate your follow-up and give insight into future coaching opportunities.  

Pro Tip: Send a performance appraisal follow-up email.

Written follow-up after a performance review can be highly effective. By summarizing the performance review in an email, you can document your conversation in writing and reiterate expectations. Leaders and employees can align on initiatives, and employees can hold themselves accountable with concrete, easily accessible next steps.  

Performance Review Follow-Up Email Template

A performance review follow-up email serves as a great reference tool as employees work toward improvement. Consider using a straightforward email template like this to simplify your follow-up process: 

Dear [Name], 

Thank you for time [today/date]. [As mentioned/I thought] a written summary would be helpful for both of us  

The purpose of our meeting was to discuss: [I, issue, the outcome].  

We agreed [resolutions: who, what, when by]. 

We will meet again to discuss your progress on [follow up date] 

Please let me know your thoughts on this reflection by [date- typically a week] 

[Sign off] 

2. Stay aligned with clear, actionable goals.

After the performance review, it's crucial to align on clear, actionable goals. Clear goals provide employees with a roadmap for improvement. An agreed upon direction helps employees stay committed and motivated—and managers can help ensure employee goals are aligned to the organization's vision. This helps create a sense of purpose and contribution for every employee. When setting goals post-performance review, focus on job performance and employee development. Here are some key strategies to consider: 

• Set SMART goals. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. 
• Provide development opportunities. Identify growth areas and offer resources, training, or mentorship to help employees reach their goals. 
• Align goals with job description. Set goals that align with the expectations outlined in the employee's job description. 
• Encourage employee input. Involve employees in the process. Ask for the input and suggestions based on their aspirations and strengths. 
• Review progress. Monitor progress regularly. Provide feedback and guidance along the way and adjust goals as needed. 
  
  

3. Provide continuous, constructive feedback.

After a performance review, continuous feedback helps employees grow and improve in real-time. Managers can recognize good performance and encourage positive changes. And employees can see exactly what they need to do to improve. A balanced approach to feedback is most effective, using both constructive and positive feedback as needed. This helps create a supportive environment for employee growth and a culture of continuous improvement.

Tips for Effective Feedback Delivery 

• Avoid dominating the conversation. Instead, encourage employee involvement, engagement, and input. 
• Utilize a constructive feedback template to ensure feedback is clear, consistent, and specific. Focus on actionable feedback.
• Encourage employees to give feedback during and after performance reviews. 
• Ensure feedback stays relevant by keeping it aligned with the employee's job description, duties, and performance expectations. 
• Maintain fairness. Avoid bias in feedback. Treat all employees fairly and objectively. Keep their trust and confidence. 
  
  

4. Create a supportive and motivating work environment.

Managers need to create a supportive and motivating environment to help employees perform at their best. When employees feel supported and valued, they're more likely to go above and beyond. Managers should focus on open communication, providing development opportunities, and recognizing great work.

Boosting Employee Engagement 

Employee engagement goes hand-in-hand with employee performance. Engaged employees are enthusiastic, dedicated, and invested in their work. Managers can foster employee engagement by: 

• Building employee feedback loops. Seek employee feedback often by asking for input and suggestions. 
• Providing development opportunities. Offer chances to grow, develop skills, and advance. 
• Offering regular coaching and feedback. Have coaching conversations with employees to help them grow personally and professionally. 
• Recognizing employee contributions. Acknowledge and appreciate employee accomplishments and milestones. 
• Aligning performance management. Weave employee development, feedback, and goal-setting into performance processes. 
  
  

5. Keep the coaching conversation going.

Performance review follow-up should be an ongoing conversation, not a one-time event. A coaching mindset helps employees develop, grow, and perform in a more rapid and aligned way. Managers should use frequent check-ins to discuss progress and tackle obstacles. This ongoing dialogue fosters employee growth, engagement, and performance.

The Power of Regular Check-Ins

Regular check-ins are instrumental in maintaining performance review momentum and fostering employee development. Managers can regularly review progress, provide feedback, and offer support. Regular check-ins keep performance goals at the forefront. They promote continuous improvement and better alignment with organizational goals.

Managers can use check-ins to:

• Recognize achievements
• Identify new challenges
• Plan for the next review

By incorporating regular check-ins into performance management practices, managers show their commitment to employee growth, openness, and ongoing improvement.

6. Get feedback from other team members.

You can’t be expected to keep up with the day-to-day workings of every employee. Implement 360 feedback to get insights from other team members to gain a well-rounded view of employee performance and how teammates interact with each other. It can be difficult to give and receive feedback, but you want to create a culture where employees can be open and direct with each other and take constructive criticism without bruising egos. 

The role of technology in performance review follow-up

Performance management technology plays a vital role in streamlining the entire performance review process. Performance reviews don't have to be a headache for managers. And they don't have to be anxiety-inducing for employees. Organizations that use performance review software can create a smoother process for all. An effective platform can help HR and managers enhance feedback delivery, track progress, and increase alignment after the review. 

It should be easy to:

• Help HR minimize administrative burden
• Help managers actually drive performance
• Help employees grow and develop
  
  

The future of performance reviews and follow-up

As organizations evolve, so too will performance reviews. Several trends are sharping the future of performance management, influencing performance reviews.

• Continuous feedback. Organizations are ditching annual reviews in favor of continuous feedback. This helps foster ongoing employee development and improvement.
• Agile performance management. Flexible, adaptive performance management processes allow for more effective goal-setting, check-ins, and coaching.
• Data-driven decision making. Data and analytics enables more informed decisions, personalized coaching, and targeted development opportunities.
• Employee wellbeing. Integrating wellbeing into performance management improves work-life balance, mental health, and employee satisfaction.
• Retention-focused performance management. Performance management can be a tool to engage, motivate, and support employee in their performance and career development.
• AI in performance reviews. Organizations can streamline and automate certain aspects of performance reviews. Reviews will become more efficient and more accurate.

Making performance reviews more than a once-a-year event

Performance reviews should be more than a once-a-year event. Managers should embed performance discussions into conversations throughout the year. This is a more effective way to improve engagement, boost performance, and create a magnetic culture. It's better for organizations, better for HR, better for managers, and better for employees. 

Performance review follow-up is key to the process—and HR and managers should work together. They should create efficient, effective, and engaging processes that help keep performance top of mind all year. 

How Quantum Workplace can help you streamline performance reviews

Performance conversations don’t need to be hard. Keep your managers and employees on the same page with engaging performance reviews. Our performance review software gives your teams reliable context to help them have more objective and engaging conversations.

2. Help your managers build positive performance habits. Make it easy for manager to coach to performance by integrating your process into their existing workflows. Set up formal conversation cycles to create the right frequency and consistency of touch points.

3. Easily track review response rates.  See the status of each review cycle to help your teams stay accountable and monitor performance ratings in real-time.

4. Embed performance goals directly into reviews. Our platform makes it easy to include goals as part of performance evaluations—and helps coach managers have objective, effective, and growth-oriented conversations.

5. Orient reviews around multi-rater feedback. Incorporate feedback into your review cycles to gain valuable insight from the individuals your people work with most, and better orient  performance conversations around development.

6. Visualize and align on performance data across teams. Get a comprehensive view of your organization’s talent with our talent dashboard. Zoom out and see the big picture, to help you make more informed decisions on how to keep and develop your best talent.

Make your performance review process more effective, efficient, and engaging. Quantum Workplace's performance review software helps your managers and teams prepare for, facilitate, and follow up for better reviews and better performance.