It is time to empower your employees! Give them helpful feedback during performance reviews.

1. Start by giving each employee performance goals. These are critical so that both the employee and employer are on the same page. The goals should include what you want your employee to do, and when it should be done.
2. If you want to give better feedback, forget the numerical performance indicators and focus on actionable, meaningful insights instead. In other words, don’t rate your employee’s actions on a scale of 1-10, but go into detail about their strengths, areas for improvement, and goals for the future.
3. Tailor your feedback to the recipient. The level of experience can dictate the best type of feedback to give a person. Experts are likely to respond better to negative feedback, while more inexperienced or entry-level individuals need more positive feedback to boost their confidence. Keep this in mind when giving feedback, and remember that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t the best way to encourage change and improvement.
4. Use clear, simple statements about how and why your employee can improve.
5. Conduct the evaluation in a relaxed and private setting. People are more likely to listen and accept the feedback if they don’t feel like they are being attacked. If you make a review feel more like an open discussion you’ll see better results down the line.
6. Make feedback a part of your company’s culture. Conduct staff evaluations at least once a year.
7. Be forward-thinking. By adding the word ‘yet’ to the end of a statement, you can turn a piece of negative criticism into constructive, growth-minded feedback.
8. Make sure your feedback is actionable or you won’t see results.
9. Turn the evaluation into a conversation. This will help the employee begin to think critically about their own performance. Download a “Self-appraisal questionnaire.”
10. Ultimately, giving better feedback is all about having the right intentions. If you’re taking the time to discuss someone’s performance with them, it should be because you want to see them succeed and achieve even more.

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