1. EMPLOYEE REVIEWS
DO’S & DO NOT'S
Presented by Sean Hawbecker

2. THE 5 W’S
Who – Every employee must receive an annual review.
What- Overall job performance will be discussed with a focus on areas
where the employee excels and areas where improvement is needed.
When – Annual reviews are to be conducted in November and
December for possible merit raises on the first full pay check in January.
Where – Employees are to be given the results of their review by their
manager or department head. GM to review all department heads.
Can not be administered without consent from Chesapeake Corporate
office.
Why – The purpose of the review is to communicate to the employee
their strengths and areas to improve.

3. WHAT DO WE WANT TO SEE ON
OUR EMPLOYEE REVIEWS?
• Be Specific
• Be Honest
• Recognize a Job Well Done
• Follow Up

4. BE SPECIFIC
 We and our managers have to be specific when conducting
employee reviews
 It helps our employees understand where there is room for
improvement
 Being specific allows our employees to know what is expected of
them
 The review is not the time for bringing up new issues
 Reference previous years goals and outline the next years goals

5. BE HONEST
 Our employees deserve our honest feedback
 Our employees won’t know what they are doing wrong and right
if we do not tell them
 The score you give should match the comment
 When a manager holds back from being honest with an
underperformer it allows for complacency to set in

6. RECOGNIZE A JOB WELL DONE
 Our employees need to hear when they have done a good job,
not just during reviews but every day
 Recognize when a top performer goes above and beyond,
sometimes handling the jobs of multiple people
 A little thanks goes a long way, it could be the cheapest bonus
you’ve ever had to pay

7. FOLLOW UP
 Goals are to be set and followed for every employees review
 The goals we set should be top of mind for both the manager
and the employee
 Engage with employees to make sure they are staying on track
 Ask about ambitions and what they feel passionate about- it is a
great way to get the employee to look at themselves
 Without follow up, the review process is simply bureaucratic
paper work

8. WHAT TO AVOID ON
EMPLOYEE REVIEWS?
• New Issues
• Being overly positive/negative
• Biases
• Talking and not Listening

9. NEW ISSUES
 A review should have no surprises
 We should constantly be giving feedback, whether good or bad
 The time and place for new issues is a Coaching/Counseling
session
 How can we expect and employee to do the right things if they
are only receiving feedback once a year

10. BEING OVERLY POSITIVE/NEGATIVE
 Being too positive or negative sends the wrong sort of feedback
 Being overly positive is usually the result of fear of giving criticism
 Being overly negative can lead to poor moral and thoughts of
“can I do anything right?”
 It’s okay to praise and to criticize, but all feedback should have
merit and should be constructive

11. BIASES
 Contrast – We are evaluating the staff on whether or not they
follow or exceed company standards, it is not a ranking system
 Halo – Rating an employee highly because of one thing they do
very well
 Horn – The opposite of Halo
 Leniency – Giving all employees satisfactory reviews
 Recency – The employees most recent behavior becomes the
primary focus

12. ALL TALK AND NO LISTENING
 Reviews should not be a one way conversation
 Employee reviews are to be constructive in the overall message
being delivered
 When giving feedback we must also be able to listen
 Listen for the employees’ passion and utilize it for future goals
 Engage the employee to agree upon the goals that are set