by Jack Junier

Created on: November 24, 2008

Many employers make the mistake of assuming that all they owe their employees is a paycheck. In too many cases, one of the best ways for management to give back to staff and truly reward them for their hard work is overlooked entirely. Performance evaluations are an excellent way for managers to show their team members how valued they are to the organization and how committed the company is to their success.

Whether you work for a family business or a Fortune 500 giant, reviews must be conducted equally. Often, higher evaluations are given to those who have mastered office politics, or who take great pains to call attention to their own accomplishments. Performance reviews should be based on the basic expectations of the job, with room for staff to impress management by going above and beyond.

To craft a meaningful performance review, you should include criteria from the following:

- The job description for the position you're reviewing

- The company handbook, particularly sections on personal conduct and general company policies

- Feedback obtained from team members and customers, both internal and external

Before writing a performance review for any employee, format the evaluation in a way that allows you to rate everyone's work on equal footing. Include categories for each of the basic daily job functions, including aptitude for the task as well as timeliness in completing it. Include a space to review ancillary assignments, those special projects that are typically covered in a review under the "other duties as assigned" heading.

Depending on the importance of company policies in the following areas, give yourself room to rate an employee's attendance, punctuality, adherence to dress code, mindfulness of email and telephone policies, and any other universally enforced code of condut.

Finally, include a section where you can rate your employee on interaction with co-workers, customer service (if applicable), sales goals (if applicable), and all-around professional workplace conduct. You may also wish to score your staff's personal improvement goals throughout the year.

With these categories in mind, be prepared to assign a number rating to each category, based on each employee's perfomance level. A rating of one should signify that the employee never meets expectations in that category, in which case some manner of disciplinary action should already be underway. A rating of three indicates that expectations are met, with little variation. A rating of five marks the

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