As the HR manager of a company, you know that your work is crucial for its growth. Your position is not only about managing the recruitment process and providing employee benefits. It’s also about supporting top-level executives, who have critical roles to play in making strategic decisions and driving change.
Thus, it’s important to evaluate your executives’ performances so that you can support them fully and help them become better at their jobs. Here’s how you can do so.
Ask for Monthly Reports
One of the key elements in evaluating the performances of top-level business executives is to ask for monthly reports from them. This will help you assess their performance and make decisions on their future.
The best thing about this approach is that it doesn’t require any additional time or resources. All you need to do is ask each executive once a month to submit a report detailing the projects they were working on, how well they performed, and other relevant information such as sales figures.
Do Anonymous Surveys Among Employees
Ask your employees to take a survey on a particular topic regarding your business executives. You can ask about any relevant topic, but try not to make it too long. Keep it simple and focused just on the things that matter most for your business: employee satisfaction, engagement levels, etc.
There are also many services out there that will let you conduct an anonymous 360-degree feedback survey. These services will ensure the privacy of your employees and will not disclose any information to you or your business executives. With such high-end systems and tools, anonymous surveying becomes much easier and more fruitful.
Compare Their Monthly Target Achievements
You can get a good idea of how well an executive has performed by comparing his or her monthly targets with those of other employees. Compare the executive’s achievements to those of other executives in your company, as well.
If, for example, you have a business executive who has set their sights on increasing sales by 10% this year and is not meeting that goal at all, while another employee is exceeding their sales target, it might be time to look into whether this executive needs some help.
You can easily identify the people who are doing better than the others. That way, you can evaluate their performances and know which executives need your or other higher-ups’ attention.
Talk to Them Directly About Their Performance
Disengaged employees at the workplace cost the world around $7.8 trillion during and right after the initial aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. All this loss came due to lost productivity at work. This could’ve been easily avoided had there been proper communication between employees and their leaders.
Therefore, you must communicate and engage with your top executives because they too are part of your business ecosystem. Contacting them directly and asking them about their performances is also a way to evaluate their performances. The most important thing you should do is to ask them about their achievements, goals, and objectives before having a discussion with them regarding their performances.
Then, you can discuss with them what they have done so far, how they were able to achieve those goals, where they have been successful, where there are still some problems or challenges and what kind of support the HR department can provide for them. It’s a lot to talk about, but it needs to be done. Always remember that you’re only there to help your executives and not undermine their work. Thus, be aware of the tone you use and how you confront them.
Observe How They are Handling Meetings
Meetings should be well-prepared but also flexible to accommodate unexpected issues or information. The meeting should not go beyond its planned time, or it can be difficult to bring everyone back together again at the same time without having lost some momentum. A good meeting leader will keep everyone focused on their tasks and not wander off into conversation that distracts from the purpose of being there in the first place.
In addition, observe how these executives relate with their staff members, as this provides insights into their leadership style and management approach to getting things done.
It’s been observed that one out of every three meetings (mostly virtual ones) is pointless. Employees spend hours at these meetings with no work or progress being made. You must make sure that the same is not happening at your workplace and that your top executives are more responsible with the way they handle their meetings.
Evaluate the Quality of Their Working Environment
In your evaluation, you must also evaluate the quality of their working environment.
Ask them about their relationship with the subordinates and employees working under them. How do they treat their subordinates? Do they have open-door policies? Are they approachable, or do they keep an air of professionalism around themselves?
Your top business executives must be open to discussions with those working with or under them. Otherwise, the culture of understanding and sharing ideas won’t exist in your workplace, making the entire arena feel toxic in a way.
HR managers need to evaluate the performance of their top-level business executives, especially in these difficult times. The competition out there is tough. Within the first year of operation, almost 19% of private U.S. businesses fail. After ten years, the failure rate jumps to 65.5%. Thus, it’s vital that your top-level business executives are well-prepared for all the challenges that lie ahead. Otherwise, your business might end up failing.
