Employee evaluations are vital to the individual as well as corporate success, and so employee review forms are essential to a business that runs smoothly.
Having an employee review form also allows human resources to keep track of a paper trail regarding an employee’s performance or lack thereof when it comes time to make tough decisions.
One of the best things you can do is use employee review templates to help you keep accurate records of the people on your team. By doing so, you’re also capable of identifying when and where your employees may need future improvement.
Reasons to Have an Employee Review Form
By using an employee review form, you’re going to be better able to make decisions like termination or providing raises for positive performance. Having a paper trail is a tangible way to ensure that employees will get noticed for positive or negative contributions that way appropriate reactions can be had.
These review forms also serve as a way of protecting the company. By having these review forms, they serve as proof that everything has been done to prevent the final step of terminating an employee. The forms make it possible for a company to defend itself if the company is ever questioned for choices that were made.
Creating an Employee Review Form
As you move forward, you’re going to want to create a standardized employee review form that is easy to use across as many positions as possible. There are some key things you’ll need to pay attention to that are necessary to include on one of these types of forms.
An evaluation or review form needs to have at least a few things for a basic review if you’re evaluating performance. These spaces contain room for the employee’s name and position as well as an ID number if applicable.
You’ll also want to have a space dedicated for actually rating the employee on a pre-determined, clearly defined rating system.
Something else you’ll want to include on a review form is a place for you to write specific comments that will go on record as part of the employee evaluation. Give yourself several lines in case you need more space sometimes. It’s better to have too much space than not enough.
Additionally, you’ll need a place where both the manager or supervisor can sign alongside the employee. Having the signature lines also acts as proof that the employee has seen the review and acknowledged whatever was written down prior to signing.
Employee Review Forms for Disciplinary Issues
If you’ve ever been in a leadership position or a managerial position, you’ve had the unpleasant experience of having to deal with disciplinary issues. They’re not fun, and they can be difficult if you aren’t prepared for them.
Part of being prepared is having a form that encompasses everything that is going to be reviewed. As an example, one of those things is having an employee that is repeatedly given tasks to complete, but the employee does not do them at all.
There is a lack of accountability without those forms proving that the employee has been counseled and instructed to follow specific steps to improve any issues that may have risen as a result of not doing his or her job.
In an instance such as this, you may prefer to have an employee review form that is dedicated to disciplinary issues. You don’t have to, of course, because you can absolutely have a universal form if you would prefer, but you may find that a write-up form is more appropriate.
Why Employee Review Forms at All?
There are several reasons why it’s a good idea to have a form in place, even for small businesses. Performance evaluations give employees a chance for a regular assessment that they can expect to be the same each and every time.
Of course, you’ll have to make sure that all review forms don’t discriminate against anyone in any way shape or form. Additionally, these forms should likely go through legal in case you have any questions to prevent anything from happening to the company as well.
With all of that said, here is a basic review form that provides you with a template that you can choose to use or modify as you see fit.
These are just a few things that you can list on a form, but you can always add more or take away some that may not be applicable for you.
The employee review form template lists a basic rundown of employee qualities but is not considered to be an in-depth review. The purpose of this easy to use evaluation form is to provide a glimpse into what is being seen between management and employees.
If used properly, these forms can give employees the opportunity to be better in the future because it also lets them know where they stand. Once the information is given to them, they can choose to either run with it or run from it, but at least they can’t claim the company didn’t try to work with them.
The More In-Depth Evaluation Form
Employee review forms can go into more depth, especially since having an overall performance rating contributes to decisions being made regarding whether or not raises are going to be awarded.
On a more in-depth review form, you’re going to want to add a few more things to the template that was given to you above, especially specific objective descriptions and their measurable outcomes over a realistic period of time.
Even with the basic characteristics that were listed in the preceding template, you’ll want to add commentary if there were improvements needed on anything including employee training, interoffice communication or anything else on that list.
An employee review form with all of this information provides a much more comprehensive review, and all it requires is a simple modification to an existing employee review form.
You may also consider adding a self-evaluation section available for the employee to reflect on how he or she believes they are doing in their current role. Once the employee has filled out this information, discussion becomes possible, as does creating a professional development plan to move the employee forward.
Finding Other Employee Review Templates
There are form templates that are easy to find online. All you have to do is Google and you’ll see them pop right up. You’ll find everything from employee review forms to attendance trackers as well as professional development templates.
A few reputable sites include Smartsheet, MIT, Tidyforms.com, and Entrepreneur.com. All of them have different variations that you can adjust as needed. If you need an employee self-evaluation form, you can find it here. If you needed a managerial evaluation form, that’s here, too. You can even fine options that are entirely fillable all online.
You may even take inspiration from their forms to create your own easy to use template. There’s nothing wrong with doing something like that, either, since the forms are available for free public use.
A Final Few Words
When you decide on what you need on your forms, regardless of whether or not you choose a template, don’t forget to run it by your legal department to make sure everyone is on the same page.
The last thing you’d want is to have a loophole that you missed which let the employee take advantage of the company in an unsavory way later on. Be proactive and approach legal before you bring these evaluation forms to the front of the line.
Once you’ve got all your ducks in a row, you’ll be ready to continue on your path to appropriate employee feedback and a way to help employees become better versions of themselves.
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