Why Great Managers Conduct Mid-Year Performance Reviews

This article was originally published in May 2016. It was updated to include information about the benefits of mid-year performance reviews in July 2021. To learn more about effective performance reviews, subscribe to our blog.

Mid-year performance reviews are being added to the performance review cycle. Haven’t added them yet? There are plenty of reasons to check in with your employees more often — keep reading to discover the importance of mid-year performance reviews.

Now more than ever, a growing list of companies are ending annual performance reviews and switching to mid-year reviews or even more frequent performance appraisals. Considering there’s evidence that traditional feedback methods can make performance worse about one-third of the time, it’s no surprise businesses large and small are trying new ways to conduct performance evaluations.

More companies than ever are moving to mid-year performance reviews upending traditional review processes whose flaws were highlighted by the pandemic. Here are just a few reasons mid-year performance reviews are beneficial:

Mid-Year Performance Reviews Are More Accurate

Only 13% of employees and managers — and an even smaller number of CEOs — find annual performance reviews useful. That’s likely because an entire year has passed, and goals and priorities can shift greatly in a year. Not to mention, keeping track of one year’s worth of performance data for every employee is a tall order for managers. With a more frequent performance review process, employees can reflect in more detail, and managers can give more accurate, timely feedback.

Mid-Year Performance Reviews Keep Goals Aligned and Career Development on Track

55% of workers say that annual performance reviews do not improve their performance — an excellent reason to try a new process that involves more frequent appraisals. Mid-year reviews give managers and employees a chance to reflect on the year so far, reevaluate priorities, and adjust strategies for the rest of the year. With annual performance appraisals, employees lose valuable professional growth opportunities, and managers run the risk of falling out of sync with their employees’ goals, achievements, and shortcomings. Mid-year employee reviews offer a chance to get back on track, reprioritize, and foster better connections with your team members.

Mid-Year Performance Reviews Alleviate Pressure

There can be a lot of pressure around annual performance reviews for everyone involved. If performance reviews are tied to salary increases, managers may be hesitant to offer too much criticism, and employees may be too focused on a potential raise to absorb and apply managers’ feedback. Mid-year reviews provide opportunities to talk about both salary and professional development, alleviating stress and giving reviews structure and purpose. This helps everyone prepare for the review, keep the conversation on track, and make the most of every evaluation.

Foster Employee Engagement with Mid-Year Performance Reviews

The chance to develop more engaged employees is a huge benefit of mid-year performance reviews. Traditional performance reviews can feel one-sided, and employees may feel anxious about speaking up. Mid-year performance reviews give managers and employees more room for discussion. Employees have the chance to self-evaluate, get support where it’s needed, and offer feedback to managers, too. Managers get the opportunity to learn about the effectiveness of their management style, facilitate team career development, and ensure annual goals are on track.

The Bottom Line: More Frequent Feedback is Better Feedback

The annual performance review is working its way out of the office in favor of mid-year reviews and other more regular employee evaluations, heeding the 96% of employees who say they want more frequent feedback. While there’s no magic formula for perfect performance reviews, we know that regular reviews and feedback help employees feel more engaged. In fact, employees whose managers regularly communicate with them are nearly three times more engaged than those with managers who communicate less regularly.

Higher levels of employee engagement benefit everyone, reducing turnover and increasing productivity while creating a communicative culture and making employees feel valued and heard. The benefits of mid-year performance reviews are clear: aid professional development, retain talented employees, and gain useful insight from your team.

With Performance Management technology, employers can easily communicate their goals with employees, make expectations more visible, and implement more effective performance reviews and feedback cycles. Employees get a clear picture of how their performance goals align with business goals and the impact of their contributions.

ClearCompany can help ensure employee reviews are completed at beneficial intervals and foster better employee engagement. Close the feedback loop and implement mid-year performance reviews with ClearCompany Performance Management.