The Importance of Assessing Performance (Ch. 8&9)

We learned this week about the different ways to assess performance and develop employees. I liked learning about the different ways we can asses employees because I feel that employee performance reviews are so important in an organization. My first job was at Discover Card Financial Services. At this job we had quarterly performance reviews. I actually liked these performance reviews and I think my manager had a lot to do with that, she handled them very professionally. I always knew where I stood and what I could improve, and also was rewarded raises every six months if I did the necessary things to deserve them. I thought this was the norm in many businesses and boy was I wrong! I had my job at Discover Card when I was 16. I am now 22 almost 23, and have had many other jobs during the past 6 years, not once have I been given regular performance reviews. This has made me develop a strong opinion about performance reviews. Most people think of them as a burden and I have seen the effects a quarterly performance review can have on my work ethic and motivation. I think it's so important that employees know where they stand and what they can do to improve so that they feel good about their job and what they are contributing to the workplace. I think it's easy to get in a lazy mode after so many months of getting by with no performance reviews and I don't like the way I feel when I get into a "lazy mode," they make me feel unproductive and unsatisfied with what I am contributing to the organization.