Despite the importance of employee performance reviews, they are often one of the first tasks to drop off the to-do lists of managers. This can be due to a range of reasons—demanding workloads, a reluctance to pass judgment on colleagues, a lack of belief in the effectiveness of performance appraisals, or simple procrastination—but it is nevertheless crucial that companies be clear about the need to complete employee reviews on time.

1. Timely Completion of
Employee Reviews - How
to Motivate Managers

2. Despite the importance of employee performance
reviews, they are often one of the first tasks to drop off
the to-do lists of managers. This can be due to a range of
reasons—demanding workloads, a reluctance to pass
judgment on colleagues, a lack of belief in the
effectiveness of performance appraisals, or simple
procrastination—but it is nevertheless crucial that
companies be clear about the need to complete employee
reviews on time. To help motivate managers to finish and
submit performance appraisals in a timely fashion,
companies can try the following tactics:

3. ● Automate the performance appraisal
process.

4. An automated performance management application can
significantly increase participation and on-time
completion of performance reviews because it gives
managers all the information they need to complete the
process: an appropriate list of tasks, due dates, forms to
be used, and pertinent background information. Removing
guesswork from the process makes the task easier for
managers, and thus helps with timely completion.

5. ● Use positive reinforcement.

6. Many companies encourage on-time review completion
through positive reinforcement programs for managers.
Perks such as time off with pay, prizes, desirable work
assignments, or other tangible rewards can be highly
motivating. It is also possible to use group incentives,
where an entire department or team receives a reward,
to encourage managers to motivate each other.

7. ● Make it a job requirement.

8. One simple solution adopted by many organizations is to
make the timely completion of employee performance
appraisals a formal part of a manager’s job. This strategy
emphasizes the importance of performance reviews by not
presenting them as optional tasks, and it holds managers
accountable to some of the same standards by which they
evaluate their employees.