It’s performance review time. Don’t cringe. Instead of a painful experience that you begrudgingly complete, take the time to give real feedback to your employees to empower them for the next year.

Maybe it’s not the fact that you have to give feedback that is painful, but trying to remember everything about your employees’ individual performance over the past year.

If that is the case, maybe you should try dropping the annual performance reviews in favor of something even better. Microfeedback. Some call it “building a performance culture” or “consistent feedback” or just regular feedback. No matter what you call it, it’s changing the way companies, large and small, look at performance.

So what does this trend mean for you during annual performance review time? Well, if you’re reading this blog, chances are, you’re procrastinating and trying to find some way, any way, out of these annual performance reviews.

“The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The second best time is today.”

Sure you’ve heard that quote. The wisdom inside it is obvious. No you might not be able to get out from under the deluge of annual performance reviews you have to do this year, but you can lay the groundwork for why it needs to change before the next time you have to slog through it.

1. Track Your Time.

If you know how much time is spent on annual performance reviews when conducted in one large swath, you can easily calculate how much time and money you will save by implementing microfeedback across the organization. Check out our handy ROI calculator to save you a step or two.

2. Survey Your Employees.

There’s never a better time to ask employees how valuable their reviews are than right after you conduct one. You can have someone from your department ask immediately after the review how beneficial your employees thought the experience was. Or send out a simple survey via email.

3. Do Productivity Checks Post-Review.

Does productivity shoot up? Does it go down? What do your retention numbers look like? This is all information that can be used to make a case for more consistent feedback.

4. During Your Reviews With Employees:

Ask them what they need from you to do their job better. Document this feedback to prove to your executive team that feedback is a great choice when offered more consistently to improve productivity, engagement and morale.

Everyone else is trying microfeedback. Why are you still slogging through annual reviews?

Based on an article by Michael Heller

For more tips on giving helpful evaluations, click here. Or, download our free “How to Work with People” e-book for more tips.