Performance management | Empowering employees in 2021 with a virtual performance appraisal

After a challenging year of lockdowns, flexible working and endless Zoom calls, 2020 has finally come to an end.

For organisations, this provides an opportunity to review the past year – finessing individual progress reports, reviewing what went well (or not so well) and preparing for the appraisal season ahead. With remote working here to stay for a while longer, how can we ensure that the new virtual performance appraisal will empower and motivate our employees for the year ahead?

A survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found that 95% of employees were dissatisfied with their company’s appraisal process. However, this process is entrenched in many key activities, such as talent management and pay rewards. This year, HR managers must ensure that all processes support employee engagement and help people to feel valued and connected, especially as the usual office-based contact has been removed. Allowing managers to go through the motions with out-of-date objectives and tick-box appraisal conversations was always the wrong approach. In a virtual workplace, it’s even more important to adopt a human-centric approach to performance management and appraisal, to make it relevant, fair and empowering. The upshot of this is that if we kick-start the year with an effective virtual performance appraisal, we will be getting 2021 off to a positive start.

CEO of Actus, Lucinda Carney believes that for a virtual appraisal to be effective and empowering, it must be a two-way conversation and based on evidence. She outlines some key tips for conducting an effective virtual performance appraisal set to empower employees well into 2021. For further support, register for our popular virtual management training here.