If we want to create a culture which encourages everyone to improve performance on an ongoing basis, conversations about performance should be part of everyone’s routine. This is why so many companies currently implement check-in systems. This allows employees to talk about what they are doing and the results they are generating with several performance touchpoints such as peers and supervisors.

How long should the appraisal period be? Most organizations typically conduct a formal annual review, while others choose semiannual or even quarterly reviews. Conducting only an annual review is usually not sufficient for most employees to discuss performance issues in a formal setting. The recommendation then is to conduct formal sit-down reviews semiannually or quarterly.

When is the best time to complete formal sit-down reviews? Most organizations adopt one of two possibilities. First, the appraisal form could be completed on or around the annual anniversary date. The biggest advantage is that the supervisor does not have to fill out everyone’s forms at the same time. However, because results are not tied to a common cycle for all employees, resulting rewards cannot be tied to the fiscal year.

The second choice is to complete the appraisal forms toward the end of the fiscal year. Adopting this approach leads to the completion of the appraisal form for all employees at about the same time, which facilitates cross-employee comparisons as well as the distribution of rewards. An additional advantage is that individual goal setting can be more easily tied to corporate goal setting.

This helps employees synchronize their work and objectives with those of their unit and organization. If there is ongoing communication between the supervisor and the employee about performance issues throughout the year, completing appraisal forms should not uncover any major surprises nor create a major time burden for the supervisors.