How To Conduct A Mid-Year Review For Employees

Does your organization prioritize employee engagement and development?

According to a 2022 survey by Gallup, approximately 68% of the US workforce is not engaged at work. This costs organizations around $3,400 for every $10,000 an average disengaged employee earns per year.

If your organization is looking for ways to help your employees to feel more engaged and motivated to perform well, conducting mid-year performance reviews can be an effective way to get started.

Many organizations use traditional annual appraisals to track employee performance. However, a year is often too long a gap between discussions about performance.

Setting up a mid-year review is a useful way to stay on top of agreed objectives, track progress and put the required support in place to help your employees to meet their career goals.

Read on to learn more about the importance of conducting mid-year reviews and how they fit into the wider performance management cycle.

What is a mid-year review?

Line managers conduct mid-year reviews to measure and evaluate employee performance. Mid-year reviews occur every six months and are used to check for gaps in knowledge, review career and development goals and agree on new objectives when required.

In some work environments, line managers cannot attend regular one-to-one meetings with every employee. Holding a mid-year review provides a forum for them to share positive feedback, acknowledge accomplishments, and offer constructive feedback.

Mid-year reviews are also an excellent opportunity to discuss succession planning opportunities. Some organizations also use them to discuss pay and benefits packages. However, many companies prefer to discuss compensation at a separate meeting.

Why are mid-year reviews important?

Setting time aside for mid-year reviews benefits the manager and employee. Here is an overview of the reasons why mid-year reviews are important.

Performance evaluation

Mid-year reviews allow managers to provide feedback on the employee’s performance over the last six months. Managers can also use the mid-year review to review the employee’s job title and job description.

Sharing feedback

As well as receiving feedback, mid-year reviews allow employees to share their experience working within the job role and organization.

Managers can use this information to iron out any workplace conflicts, review policies and shape the employee’s job role in the future. They can also use it to identify areas where efficiency could be improved.

Engaging with employees

Offering a regular opportunity for employees to engage with their line manager is critical to the working relationship. It can also help to motivate the employee.

As well as discussing the employee’s current job role, managers can boost engagement by discussing future career plans, areas of interest and how the organization can help them achieve their goals.

Even if there are no immediate opportunities, arranging mentoring or shadowing can help the employee to gain knowledge and experience in other areas, helping them to feel better engaged and boosting their morale.

How to conduct a mid-year review

Offering a well-structured mid-year review is essential. It will help the meeting to flow well and allow both sides to get the most out of it.

Welcoming the employee to the meeting will help them to feel comfortable. Explaining the meeting structure at the beginning will help the employee know what to expect and ensure good use of time.

1. Evaluate the employee’s performance

Performance evaluation is the most important aspect of the mid-year review. Managers should consider the employee’s work, including their day-to-day duties and any previously agreed goals or targets.

The manager and the employee should reflect on the past six months, considering any previous objectives and whether these have been achieved. If not, now is the time to discuss why and put the required support in place.

Managers should aim to keep the conversation two-way by asking open questions such as “What parts of the job role do you enjoy most?” or “What motivates you at work?”

The performance evaluation aspect of the mid-year review is also an excellent point to revisit the employee’s job title, team, and working pattern or hours.

2. Analyze the employee’s strengths and weaknesses

The next step is thinking about the employee’s strengths and weaknesses. In what areas have they excelled? Where have they fallen short of expectations?

Again, open questioning is essential. For example, the manager might ask the employee to describe a positive work outcome from the past six months and what skills and knowledge they used.

Talking about an employee’s weaknesses is not always an easy conversation to have. Managers might ask employees to think about a recent work situation that went poorly. What happened, and what could they do differently in the future? What training and support would they need to make the necessary improvements?

Identifying an employee’s strengths is a good way to motivate them for the future. When identifying an area of weakness, it is important to talk about what support can be put in place to help the employee to improve.

It would be very demotivating to tell an employee where their performance falls short without agreeing on action points to help them improve.

3. Provide feedback

Giving helpful feedback is a skill. Many managers feel uncomfortable giving it, but it is vital to the mid-year review.

And in most cases, employees want to receive feedback on improving their work performance. A Zenger Folkman survey revealed that 94% of respondents stated that “corrective feedback improves their performance when it is presented well”.

During a mid-year review, managers should offer both positive and corrective feedback. Regardless of the type of feedback, managers should always aim to keep it specific and objective.

Offering specific and objective feedback is easier in some work environments than others. For example, in sales-driven roles, the manager might note that the employee still needs to meet their sales target for the last quarter.

But in a healthcare role, it can be more difficult to provide hard data to show that a performance standard hasn’t been met. In these cases, the manager might use feedback from patients or relatives to back up their feedback.

Some managers prefer to offer positive feedback first. This gives the employee an overview of the expectations and what they should aim for in the future.

When offering constructive feedback, managers should always provide specific examples.

What was the situation? What did the employee do? What was the outcome? What would be expected in the future?

To open up the conversation, managers might ask the employee to reflect on the situation and offer ideas of how they might approach a similar problem in the future. Discuss any support or training the employee might need to reach the expected standard.

4. Assess employee satisfaction

As well as reviewing performance, the mid-year review is also a valuable opportunity to discuss employee satisfaction levels. Employee satisfaction relates to whether the staff member is happy and content in their job role.

Several factors can impact employee satisfaction, including:

• Salary, benefits and compensation

• Work environment

• Training opportunities

• Resources and equipment

• Workload

• Team relationships

• Work-life balance - this should not be underestimated. In one study, one-third of workers describe this as being the most important of all benefits. However, 38% of study respondents said their organization rarely or never makes it possible for them to maintain a healthy work-life balance

• Organizational culture

Some employees may need help to articulate this information. Managers can do this by starting the conversation with some open-ended questions, for example:

• Are you happy in your job role?

• Is your job description an accurate reflection of the job role?

• What part of the job do you find most challenging?

• Are you able to balance work/home life effectively? If not, do you have any suggestions on how to improve this?

• Is there any equipment or resources that would help you to do your job?

• Are there any issues within the team you wish to raise?

• Do you need any training or development to help you to achieve your goals?

Depending on the employee’s answers, the manager might need to re-evaluate the job description, working environment or team structure.

5. Identify development opportunities

The mid-year review is an ideal opportunity to highlight development opportunities. Having an open discussion about the employee’s performance over the last six months is the best way to identify areas for improvement. Managers should also consider organizational objectives, team goals and the employee’s own career plans.

Development opportunities vary between organizations, but managers might consider the following:

• Mentoring

• Shadowing

• Internal training courses

• Formal training programs and qualifications

• On-the-job training

• Secondment opportunities

Even if the organization cannot fund development opportunities, adjusting the employee’s working pattern might be possible to allow them to self-fund and attend a training program or course.

6. Set new goals

At this point, the manager and employee should agree on new goals. It may be necessary to carry forward an objective from the past review period. If this applies, the manager should determine what support they can provide to help the employee.

Depending on the context, the manager may also need to set out the consequences if this goal is not met again.

The new goals should be SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

When setting goals, managers should consider all the information gathered during the mid-year review meeting, including the employee’s career objectives, strengths and weaknesses, employee satisfaction and desired development opportunities.

Here are some examples of SMART goals:

• Complete X course by the end of the next quarter

• Attend X networking events and arrange follow-up meetings with X new contacts by the end of the financial year

• Provide mentorship support to X staff member for the next six months. Schedule one hour per week for mentorship activities and developing your leadership skills.

• Over the next quarter, spend three hours per week shadowing X employee in the X department.

Managers should set a combination of short, medium and long-term goals. Agreeing on meaningful goals at various checkpoints in the employee lifecycle will show the employee there is a clear career path for them within the organization.

7. Create an action plan

A mid-year review action plan is a shared document which should be accessible to both the manager and the employee.

It should include a summary of the discussions, details of any agreed development opportunities and clear SMART objectives to summarise the employee’s goals for the next six months.

8. Follow up

Managers should provide regular follow-up review opportunities between mid-year reviews. The practicalities of this will differ between job roles and organizations.

Where possible, managers should set up a short review meeting on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to track the employee’s progress.

If this is not feasible, the employee should be encouraged to contact the manager immediately if a problem will likely impact their ability to achieve the agreed goals.

Even if it is impossible to set up a regular meeting, managers can schedule a short phone or video conference regularly to track progress.

Tips for conducting a mid-year review

Both employees and managers can benefit from preparing for the mid-term review. Spending some time making a few notes on the critical points for discussion can help them to make better use of their time.

Here are some tips on how to conduct a successful mid-year review.

Prepare for the meeting

Managers should read through previous performance reviews, noting previously set objectives. Some managers ask employees to fill in a short form before the review, which helps them summarize the key points they want to discuss.

Managers should take responsibility for booking a suitable venue for the meeting. The venue should be quiet, private and free from distractions.

Gather metrics and data to support discussions

Hard data is essential when discussing performance. Having this information on hand during the meeting should help things run smoothly.

For example, if the team must answer emails within three working days, check whether the employee meets this metric before the performance review.

If employees are expected to maintain an absence rate below 4%, check the employee’s record and bring this information to the meeting.

Set up a 360-degree feedback system

360-degree feedback is a helpful tool for certain job roles. Gathering 360-degree feedback means you can offer the employee comprehensive feedback from a range of people they work with, including senior management, direct reports and customers.

The Neuroworx performance management tool makes this process easy, allowing you to track employee performance against the relevant targets.

Encourage an open discussion

Both the employee and manager should play an active role in the mid-year review. Asking open-ended questions will help employees feel more comfortable expressing their ideas.

When offering feedback on the employee’s performance, ask for their thoughts and listen to what they say.

Avoid surprises

Managers should refrain from giving feedback that has not been discussed previously as part of the mid-year review. Any employee performance issues should be recognized and acted upon as soon as possible after the event.

Example questions to ask in a mid-year review

Using open-ended questions in the mid-year review will encourage participation from the employee.

Here are some example questions to ask in a mid-year review.

• What work achievement are you most proud of from the past six months?

• Have you fostered any new work relationships in the past six months?

• What can I do differently to support you and the team better?

• What changes would you make to the X process or policy?

• Do you see yourself in another role here? What can the organization do to help you get there?

Final thoughts

Mid-year reviews offer managers a valuable opportunity to discuss staff performance. Managers can use these bi-annual meetings to highlight gaps in knowledge, review development goals and set new objectives for the future.

Offering proactive feedback at the mid-year review means employees receive recognition and appreciation for their contributions to the organization. It also allows managers to check in regularly with staff, identify issues early, and agree on an improvement plan.

Meeting on a six-monthly basis also makes it easier to stay on top of whether an objective is still relevant.

Regular meetings with employees can boost employee engagement and satisfaction levels.

Looking for performance management tools to simplify the mid-year review process?

Neuroworx offers a range of useful products, including 360-degree performance management, goals & objectives/key results (OKRs) and training strategies.

Contact us today to learn how we can support your organization with the performance management process.