What should HR do after performance reviews? What is the reason for top employees leaving after an appraisal? What are the effective ways to keep top performers through HR? These questions are more pertinent now than ever before, in the changing Indian talent space.
Table of Contents:
Performance appraisal cycles are usually a turning point. For some of the employees, it’s proof. To others, and high achievers in particular, it can lead to dissatisfaction if expectations are not met. If you are not careful, you will lose your best talent immediately after the review.
Appraisal Cycle: What Happens During and After
Appraisal is not just a meeting. It’s a milestone. It can either enhance employee engagement or trigger employees’ dissatisfaction.
The high performers tend to demand more than a salary increment. They are looking for growth, direction, exposure and value representation. When the performance appraisal feedback comes as generic or does not support the follow-up, even the best employees can end up feeling undervalued.
It is imperative to have an understanding of why high performers leave after appraisal cycles in order to develop impeccable employee retention approaches. In many cases, it has nothing to do with money – it is about meaning, recognition, and the future. Post-appraisal exits are a real danger. Most of the high performers question their worth in the organisation after the sharing of the feedback and the rewards.
The following are the main rationales as to why even your best talent may decide to leave post-appraisal:
Mismatch Between Effort and Reward
Star performers tend to perform way beyond their expectations. When their appraisal feedback is not commensurate with their efforts, in terms of ratings, rewards or recognition, they feel undervalued.
Lack of Career Progression
High achievers are not interested in their next paycheck, but rather they are thinking in terms of the long-term horizon. If the appraisal cycle does not show where the growth opportunities are, such as promotions or difficult projects, it leaves room for stagnancy.
Generic and Uninspiring Feedback
Top talents expect a detailed evaluation in their performance appraisal. When reviews are non-specific – ‘Keep up the good work’ or ‘You are doing fine’ – it is like a wasted opportunity. They want to know what they do best, what can be improved, and how their work affects the business. The shallow nature of feedback can make them feel unseen.
Managerial Disconnect
Most resignations are from managers and not companies. When the reporting manager is lacking empathy, leadership, or the ability to communicate after-appraisal, the top performers feel distant.
Market Visibility and Better Offers
When it comes to top performers, they are always in the crosshairs of recruiters. Appraisal time often triggers self-reflection. If they do not feel appreciated, they tend to be more open to opportunities outside.
Lack of Meaningful Work
Highly paid top performers might also exit if their position does not provide them with the challenge or purpose. After appraisals, when there’s an expectation for increased responsibility or fresh projects and we get none, it triggers disengagement.
Keeping the best of your employees does not entail paying them a raise. Here is how HR can take charge after the appraisal: –
1. Personalize the Follow-Up
Do not end at the appraisal meeting. Schedule 1:1 session with high performers. Talk about their objectives, obstacles, and thoughts. Apply ideas from performance management software to customise the career plans. This demonstrates your desire for their growth.
2. Go Beyond Monetary Rewards
More money is something of an expectation as opposed to an exhilaration. Provide learning opportunities or new responsibilities instead of ownership of a project. Recognise the value they have to offer and approach it in a way that meets their career goals. A study says that 69% of employees say they’d work harder if their efforts were better appreciated.
Combine your performance appraisal software with modules for employee development programs to monitor progress efficiently.
3. Offer Visible Growth Paths
The best doers want to get ahead. Create internal mobility frameworks. List what available roles or leadership tracks are available.
Use HR management software to plan career journeys, skills deficiencies, and succession planning. Share this vision openly. According to a study conducted by Gartner, 27% of high performers leave their current jobs to find new ones after a performance appraisal.
4. Give Continuous Feedback
Don’t give feedback all at once, on a yearly basis. Offer regular feedback. Live feedback using technology keeps up interest and aids in retention levels.
Furthermore, constant use of performance management software keeps the achievements on record and recognized throughout the year.
5. Recognize in Public, Coach in Private
Once in team meetings or company-wide updates, acknowledge success. Acknowledgement from other people and leaders empowers morale.
However, if we can improve, make it a personal affair. The best way to provide constructive performance appraisal feedback is in a private and contextual manner.
6. Enable Manager Development
Your front line is your managers. Train them in how to facilitate the post-appraisal discussion with empathy and with a strategic sense. Arm them with information from your performance appraisal software. Show them how to use data to establish trust and create outcomes. Betterworks’ 2024 State of Performance Enablement report found that effective performance management software improves employee engagement by 11%, belonging by 62%, and employee development by 96%.
7. Monitor Attrition Signals
Use predictive analytics in HR management software to find out who could be at risk. Decline in engagement, fewer turn-ups or unusual time off are all red flags. Early intervention can save you trouble from a resignation letter landing on your desk.
Final Thoughts
The period immediately post-performance review is critical. It can consolidate a worker’s affiliation or propel him to leave. To retain top performers, HR has to go beyond simple feedback and salary increments.
Provide growth, purpose, and crystal-clear next steps. Utilize the advantages of performance management software, performance appraisal software and HR management software to customize and improve the post-appraisal experience.