1 in 3 Employees Do Not Know How to React During Performance Reviews
● More than eight in 10 respondents (86 per cent) said that they are able to have an open conversation with their managers during performance reviews.
● Eight per cent of respondents were never asked for feedback during their performance appraisals. ● More than two in three respondents (69 per cent) said that they value their employers feedback because it helps them get a clearer understanding of what they need to do to achieve their next career milestone.
According to 34 per cent of survey respondents based in Malaysia, performance reviews are only conducted once a year. Close to nine in 10 employees (89 per cent) said that their work performance is still being graded against a perfect score. As the working environment changes and working relationships become more informal, Randstad – one of the world‟s largest HR solutions agencies – seeks to understand how the perception of performance reviews has changed and how feedbacks are being shared today.
Instant feedback is most valued by employees
Real-time feedback is finding its way into the office these days. It gives employees a chance to ask for new growth opportunities as they present themselves, or raise any red flags before it is too late. In Malaysia, 73 per cent of the employers have adopted the use of real-time feedback to monitor work productivity and to share a response on how to improve using the context of a current situation. Eight in 10 employees (80 per cent) said that they feel comfortable in giving and receiving feedback to their managers. 84 per cent said that they work in an open environment where feedback can be shared with each other, including their managers, at any time.
Despite working in an environment where real-time feedback is encouraged, 93 per cent of respondents still feel that performance review is a session that is used by the manager to give them feedback. In fact, eight per cent of respondents felt that they do not have the opportunity to speak out about their career aspirations or concerns at work.
Employees have mixed emotions towards both real-time feedback and scheduled job performance reviews. People consider giving and receiving feedback as a positive thing, as it:
1. helps them have a clear understanding of what they need to achieve and how to do it (69 per cent)
2. makes them feel more motivated (52 per cent)
3. supports learning and development (49 per cent)
However, people do not look forward to receiving or giving feedback to their colleagues and managers, as they:
1. do not know how to react (34 per cent)
2. feel uncomfortable (33 per cent)
3. find it hard to not take negative feedback personally (29 per cent)
The feedback that is shared between colleagues does not always need to highlight areas of improvement; it can also be recognising someone on the team for a job well done. The balance between sharing positive and negative feedback helps point the employees in the right direction of growth, motivate them to be more productive and collaborative, and promote employee loyalty.
The survey showed that 69 per cent of respondents said that their employers organise training on how to give and receive feedback. It is important for organisations to ensure its entire workforce knows how to share and receive constructive feedback both professionally and effectively, so that managers and employees can have a more meaningful and productive conversation.
It is also the manager’s responsibility to ensure their employees have the opportunity to contribute by sharing their own perspectives, the challenges they face at work and suggest the type of support that they will need from the company.
Annual performance review still a norm in Malaysia
Globally, 32 per cent of respondents said that their managers review their performance only once a year. In Malaysia, 34 per cent of respondents said that they still have regular annual performance reviews.
Great Conversations‟ was introduced to promote open conversations in Randstad
The annual graded performance reviews at Randstad were fully replaced by “Great Conversations‟ in 2018. Under the new practice, managers and employees engage in an open discussion to share and receive feedback on their work performance, as well as discuss opportunities for growth and the kind of support they hope to have. To facilitate these conversations, Randstad organises training sessions for all of its employees so that they would feel more comfortable and confident with receiving and giving feedback to each other. Jos Schut, Global Chief Human Resource Officer at Randstad said, “We moved from the traditional backward-looking appraisal process to a future-oriented process using real-time feedback to make the conversations meaningful, aspirational and progress focussed. This new approach made sure all of our employees have the opportunity to provide and receive frequent feedback to improve their performance, something the traditional appraisal process didn’t offer.”
Randstad Workmonitor: Quarter 1, 2019
The minimum sample size for the Randstad Workmonitor survey is 400 respondents per country. The 2019 quarter one survey was conducted between January 30 and February 15, 2019. The Randstad Workmonitor was launched in the Netherlands in 2003, and covers 34 countries around the world. The study encompasses Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The Randstad Workmonitor is published four times a year, making both local and global trends in mobility visible over time. The Workmonitor’s Mobility Index, which tracks employee confidence and captures the likelihood of an employee changing jobs within the next six months, provides a comprehensive understanding of sentiments and trends in the job market. Besides mobility, the survey addresses employee satisfaction and personal motivation as well as a rotating set of themed questions. The study is conducted online among employees aged 18-65, working a minimum of 24 hours a week in a paid job (not self employed). The Survey Sampling International (SSI) panel is used for sampling purposes.
