The article goes on to describe a new wave of engagement, “Building a compelling and meaningful work environment is a complex process. At the same time, the world of employee engagement and feedback is exploding. Annual engagement surveys are being replaced by “employee listening” tools such as pulse surveys, anonymous social tools, and regular feedback check-ins by managers. All these new approaches and tools have given rise to the “employee listening” officer, an important new role for HR.”

1. Initiating a Performance Discussion
Although traditional performance reviews with broad-based ratings are becoming a thing
of the past, according to a 2016 Deloitte study, titled, Meta Analysis Research Paper,
“Employee engagement is still a headline issue throughout business and HR. An
overwhelming majority in this year’s survey (85%) ranked engagement as a top priority
(that is important or very important).
The article goes on to describe a new wave of engagement, “Building a compelling
and meaningful work environment is a complex process. At the same time, the world of
employee engagement and feedback is exploding. Annual engagement surveys are being
replaced by “employee listening” tools such as pulse surveys, anonymous social tools,
and regular feedback check-ins by managers. All these new approaches and tools have
given rise to the “employee listening” officer, an important new role for HR.”
With only 46 percent of the surveyed companies responding that they are “prepared to
tackle the engagement challenge,” what does that mean for the rest of us?

2. There have been many numerous articles written on the “new wave” of performance
evaluations. And, by now, it should be expected that everyone would have adopted a new
way of measuring their employees’ performance. But, what we have found is this:
Although annual evaluations are painful…….change is even more painful. A 2014 study
in the Strategy + Business journal noted that employees often react so poorly to being
graded………. that they are “intensely inclined to ignore feedback, pushback against
stretch goals and reject the example of positive role models.”
After years of doing it wrong, your managers may be throwing up their arms and
choosing to say as little as possible just to avoid the pain.
With the new wave of performance management tools, HR professionals are able to
leverage a manager’s weekly or monthly conversation into a workforce evaluation based
on business outcomes. The process has become much more standardized with
Performance Process templates that help managers get through the uncomfortable part of
evaluating performance. Using templates provides opportunities to coach, praise and even
begin those dreaded Performance Improvement conversations. The use of Performance
Process templates, will also lead to stronger predictors of overall success as well as
predictors of attrition risks.
Technology Has the Potential to Make Tracking Clearer
In nearly every industry in every country, personnel are engaging with technology more
often. From email and company forums to messaging services and apps, enterprise
software is facilitating more conversations across more avenues than ever before.
What that means for performance management is that there’s a significant vein of data
available to tap to evaluate long-term progress. As everyone is enabled to interact with

3. more technology, online systems become easier to use and maintain. This applies to both
management and employees who are better able to navigate through online forms with
greater understanding supported by intuitive tools embedded within the system.
Without a platform to gather disparate data, analysis is not always available because the
information is on so many unique systems. That means performance reviews and
calibrations still maintain a manual element that is tedious and leaves the potential for
human error. Calculations derived purely by people also create room for biased reviews
that can be based on relationships between the manager and employee, as opposed to
their actual performance.
These concerns are being addressed by new technologies using Performance Review
templates.
Problem Solving Through Modern Performance Review Templates
Employee appraisal is still a necessary HR tool to monitor and manage the health of an
organization. However, the practice of “rank and yank” performance scoring leading to
the dismissal of everyone scoring in the bottom quadrant is quickly being replaced by
frequent coaching tools that aid in retention, identification of hidden skills and even
recruitment.
Small businesses and major corporations alike are ending the rank and yank practice,
largely to address workforce unhappiness and the challenges of the Millennial employee.
Even GE, one of the largest proponents of ranking systems that compared all employees
relative to their peers, has ended its annual review program for its roughly 300,000
employees. Adobe, Microsoft, Accenture and many more have already following suit.
Most of the outdated ranking processes are being replaced by a modern set of
performance review templates that promote consistent check-ins, coaching on-the-go and
collaboration. Companies that have thrown out old practices are now empowered by the
new technology available to employees and managers during their daily routines.
This guide provides you with a look at ways Performance Check-In Templates can be put
into practice and set to use.

4. A Closer Look
Performance Check-In templates, like the Netflix or PPP (Progress, Plans and
Problems Methodology) models, have taken on the look and feel of emails and
Web forms that most employees are familiar with today. Sticking to short and
simple layouts, they can quickly help both an employee and manager gauge
performance on an ongoing basis while addressing short-term and long-term
goals.
Implementation of this process is typically straightforward thanks to email and digital
calendars. You can set employee check-in options and send out automatic reminders to
ensure that employees and their managers check-in when appropriate.
Performance reviews give you a way to evaluate employees against the overall
workforce. Providing feedback options lets you know how an employee feels about their
current situation through self assessment. Employees are also able to ask for feedback or
raise concerns anonymously. Check-in templates create coaching moments while
empowering supervisors with options to solve unforeseen bottlenecks as, or before, they
occur.
A digital record of these reports and employee requests not only helps HR to address
concerns, but makes it easier to elicit assistance from someone beyond the immediate
manager. The burden is taken off of the employee, so that their effort is focused on
improving, not learning who and how to ask about it.
Coaching and Living Documents
Performance check-in templates are typically structured in a way that emphasizes positive
interaction and coaching. They can do this simply, but effectively, by employees asking:
What do I need to stop doing?
What do I need to start doing?
What do I need to continue doing?
…….instead of asking what am I doing wrong?
Coaching is a continuous process of providing feedback and encouraging outstanding
performance as well as coaching someone for improvement. By keeping this discussion in

5. a positive light, employees are empowered to take control of the changes and better
manage their own behaviors and outcomes.
Provide your fleet of supervisors and managers templates that encourage positive
interactions and support ongoing coaching opportunities. Using performance review
templates initiate dialog by creating clear expectations for performance. When you
provide a performance management system that focuses on coaching, by making
imbedded tools available to spark ongoing dialogue, employees are less likely to be
surprised about their need for improvement. And like every team, whether it's football or
your customer service department, coaching is necessary for everyone, including those
team members who continue to win week after week. Coaching templates provide an
excellent tool to reinforce the performance of your high potentials.
Optimizing the Review Process with KPISOFT
Bridging all of these new changes and informational needs into the modern HR
department are brands like KPISOFT, which provides a core structure to show employees
how they are progressing toward specific goals in a meaningful way.
Improve Employee Relationships
Performance review templates from KPISOFT encourage your leadership and HR teams
to provide positive, constructive criticism. This structure helps employees receive goal-
oriented reviews that translate into specific, achievable actions.
When KPISOFT templates were adopted by a leading Asian multi-national corporation
(MNC), the brand was able to achieve an 85% positive feedback benchmark in all
employee surveys.
Turn Reviews into KPI Tools
Templated, consistent processes make it easier for reviews to meet four of the key pillars
of strong performance management: alignment, coaching, collaboration, and calibration.
Alignment is more than just streamlining the process. Review templates use multiple
metrics throughout the year, linking employees to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
relevant to the specific business goals and organizational strategies.

6. Coaching on-the-go through a digital review process ensures that physical barriers don’t
prevent the process from continuing. KPISOFT provides multiple tools to facilitate the
interaction, allowing organizations to have performance data available in real-time. The
coaching experience is reinforced by the consistent interaction resulting from the use of
templates that help keep performance goals in a positive light. This provides management
with the ability to identify and solve issues that multiple employees face, thereby
improving morale.
Collaboration of the data using a centralized reporting system allows HR managers to
create a 10,000-foot view of their organization. Platforms from KPISOFT facilitate
analysis that can lead to better data-driven business decisions and insights.
One benefit of a single platform is that it provides a more holistic evaluation of your
workforce. Ranking, grouping, and sorting functions that critique the workforce serve as
tools available to look for areas of improvement.
Simple sharing of reviews and information with appropriate supervisors provides HR
professionals and managers with the ability to check-in and understand employee
performance changes, improvements, and newly identified needs. Creating
standardization across all processes allows calibration to occur…..no matter how many
employees, how many departments or how many locations.
Calibration is essentially the ability to rank groups based on data, independent of the
individuals who take down that information. An easier, more effective review process is
possible even when there is turnover in all areas of management, thanks to a system that
maintains information and uses data to track goals, meaning there’s always a reference
point.
KPISOFT offers stakeholders, shareholders and executives the entire scope of visibility
necessary to manage change, capture market share and yield a much greater ROI. If your
company wants to achieve this type of success, take the leap and join the new
Performance Revolution.