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Anniversary Reviews vs. Annual Reviews

mburchmburch 19 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
The firm I work with (approx. 200 emp.) is going from an annual review (Jan.) system to an annivesary review system. Has anyone made this transition and if so how did you handle the merit increases. Ours coincides with the reviews.

Thanks for your help.

M. Burch
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  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • SystemSystem 5,885 Posts
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    mburch,

    Here's a link to a past thread on the forum that might help out, although I think the person posting that question was going the opposite direction - moving from anniversary date to annual reviews.

    "Performance Reviews"
    [url]http://www.hrhero.com/employersforum/DCForumID14/1289.html[/url]

    Christy Reeder
    Website Managing Editor
    [url]www.HRhero.com[/url]
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  • RockieRockie 2,136 Posts
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    I would look at the thread, but you are buying yourself some major headaches moving from a once a year review system to an anniversary review. If everyone does reviews once a year, you will have no problems with individuals getting their reviews in on time as the same deadline applies to everyone. If you go to an anniversary review system, you will constantly have to keep on top of supervisors to get their reviews done. I would stick with doing them once a year unless you are doing this for budgetary reasons.
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  • Human Resources ManagerHuman Resources Manager 188 Posts
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    Not to mention the headache of the people whose anniversaries are later in the year and will have to wait longer to get their next increase. I can just hear it, "that's not fair," "how am I supposed to budget?," etc. I went through the same thing from salaried employees when we switched from semi-monthly to bi-weekly payroll.
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  • Sr HRSr HR 3 Posts
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    Let's get out of the box on this one. A year, whether it be measured from the employee's anniversary or the calendar, is but the time it takes the earth to circle the sun. Forget it! It probably has little or nothing to do with performance management.

    Tie Performance Review timing to the objective of the process: That of obtaining improved performance. Think about determining timing by: Work cycle of the job, or significant project completion. Also consider the employee's growth rate- early career people might do well to have a review every quarter, while for late career people, with 10+ years on a position, an 18 month cycle might be appropriate.

    ...and don't design your system for HR's convenience. If you lean towards an annual fixed date process because it's easiest for HR to manage, think again. Serve your enterprise, not thyself!
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  • mburchmburch 19 Posts
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    The main reason for changing to an annivesary schedule (even though it would create more follow-up work for the HR dept.) is to create more meaningful, useful reviews.

    As it stands now, the reviewers are pushing through all their reviews like a freight train trying to get them all completed without taking away from their billable hours. Results...POOR performance reviews.

    Going to the annivesary review will give each reviewer more time with the employee, more thought goes into the review, and it produces better,more meaningful dialog between reviewee and reviewer.

    One solution with the merit increases is to have them given in January, as it is right now, and not have them coincide with the reviews. Any thoughts?

    Thanks for all your help!

    M. Burch
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