Employee reviews-most managers hate to do them just as much as employees hate to receive them. They are time consuming; do not seem to ever say what you really want them to and normally leave one or both parties leaving the review meeting upset. Gee this is a morale booster, no wonder corporate America has the reputation it does!

Ok let's step back, employee reviews really do not have to be that bad. (Honest!) With some regular pro-active actions between reviews, reviewing your employees can become a fear of the past.

Since a good manager focuses on removing obstacles that get in the way of his employees completing the work, it can be a challenge to pay close attention to how or when these things are accomplished.

In this day and age we also have the wonderful ability to work remotely, which is a great convenience for the individual. But this convenience can be yet another challenge for the manager, leaving them to question the work or how dependable the employee really is. Yet another snag in the review process, but there is no need to worry.

Because this is a task that most do not like, it is often the task that gets "put off until tomorrow." Or in other words, it either never gets done or never gets done right.

Having successful regular employee reviews, will help a company accomplish its goals, strengthen its culture and have a more positive impact on the market. Those are amazing results from something often viewed as an annoyance!

Most companies allocate one hour to an employee review. The manager hands the review sheet to the employee, reads what is on it and asks them to sign it, not very effective. In order for reviews to be successful, there needs to be no surprises-ever! Going into a review meeting, both the employee and the manager should know what is going to be discussed in the review.

I recommend taking that sixty minutes and turning it into ninety. Yes you read that correctly. The manager and employee should have a fifteen minute meeting to discuss and finalize what the employee's goals are. This way both are fully aware of them up front. This is very important. People cannot accomplish goals they did not know they were meant to accomplish. After that, the manager and employee should meet for five minutes every month (make this at the end of another meeting you have together) to discuss progress and any help that is need to accomplish those goals. Finally, you will have a fifteen minute review. Both the employee and the manager will already know the stats of those goals and have ideas for the next round of goal setting.

When a manager and employee work together to establish the goals and the review is based on outcomes, the review becomes quite the simple task!

Mel DePaoli is the president and founder of Omicle located in Seattle, WA. She is also interviewing companies for her upcoming book series Brand or Culture: Which Comes First. Please visit http://www.Omicle.com For more information about how Omicle can become your Catalyst for Discovery and http://www.brandorculture.com to get involved in the Brand or Culture Debate! This article may be reprinted with by-line and credit given to Mel DePaoli. Ms. DePaoli can be reached at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .