Conducting effective performance reviews is essential to the success of any business. Every industry has its unique challenges, and while there’s no doubt that performance reviews are crucial in all of them, you may be wondering why performance reviews are so important in construction in particular.
Well, when it comes to performance reviews, there’s really no limit to the value that they can create if done right. However, considering that construction projects, in particular, rely heavily on close collaboration and the individual contributions of on-site workers, performance reviews in construction present a unique opportunity to uncover elusive details that can help your construction team perform better and ensure that future projects go smoothly.
At the end of the day, businesses in the construction industry simply can’t afford to miss out on the many benefits that proper performance reviews can bring. So, whether you’re new to the industry or have been working in it for decades, here is everything you need to know about why performance reviews in construction are so important.
What is the Primary Purpose of Performance Reviews?
Before you can truly understand why performance reviews are so important in construction, it’s crucial that you understand the general goals that you should try to achieve when conducting them.
First and foremost, the primary purpose of a performance review is to fairly and accurately evaluate performance by identifying successes and failures in the time since the last review. This not only helps you better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your staff, but it also gives you valuable insights into how you might be able to utilize those strengths better.
However, while evaluating performance is the primary purpose of a performance review, it’s not the only goal you should have. In addition to giving feedback about performance, you should also view your performance review as an opportunity to have an engaging and productive conversation with your team members.
You should discuss their goals and how they plan to achieve them, as well as their motivations, accomplishments, failures, and anything else that might give you better insight into their general attitude and mindset toward their job.
Ask about what job tasks they enjoy doing and which ones they like the least, and allow them the opportunity to discuss and give you feedback about what they think could be improved either in their day-to-day workflow or with the performance feedback process in general.
Performance reviews should be just as much about gathering information and getting to know your personnel better as they are about evaluating performance. And, if done properly, you could uncover the secret to your construction team’s continued progress, success, and happiness on the job.
Why Performance Reviews Are Important in Construction
As you know, performance reviews are crucial to managing the performance of a business or team in any industry, and construction is no different. Still, while many of the main goals of performance reviews can be shared across industries, there are still a few that make them particularly important to the construction industry. So, just why are performance reviews so important in construction?
Identify Top Performers
Construction projects involve a lot of moving parts, many of which are talented individual workers who are much better at performing specific tasks on the job site than others. Performance reviews allow project managers the opportunity to identify these individuals so that they can reward their achievements and better utilize the skills that they excel at in the future.
A lot of the time, completing construction projects on time is about allocating the right resources or workers to the right job. These reviews allow construction owners all the information they need to do just that, making them crucial to the continued success of any construction project.
Identify Workers That May Be More Productive Elsewhere
On the other hand, performance reviews also allow project managers to identify workers who are struggling with their current responsibilities.
While there are undoubtedly bad apples on many construction teams throughout the country, struggling performance doesn’t necessarily mean that your staff member is a bad worker. In fact, oftentimes, it simply means that you haven’t found the best way to utilize their specific skill set yet.
Performance reviews give project managers the opportunity to ask each individual on their team what they think they excel at and where they think their strengths are being underutilized, all of which is crucial information to have when allocating labor on the job site.
Provide Professional Growth Opportunities
Individual goals are always a big talking point during a performance review and for good reason. You can’t keep your team happy if they aren’t meeting their personal goals, and team members who are able to meet their goals are much more likely to feel fulfilled in their work and stick around for the long haul.
Still, achieving goals can be challenging, especially if you don’t give your staff the direction or resources that they need to thrive, which is another reason why performance reviews are so essential. During the review, you may be able to refer them to professional growth opportunities that they wouldn’t know about or have access to otherwise, allowing them to make faster progress toward their short and long-term goals.
Assess Team Dynamics
Construction projects often involve a wide variety of specialized teams that are in charge of conducting specific on-site duties. However, if some of your teams don’t seem to be as productive as they should be, it could be a problem with the dynamics and leadership of the team that’s to blame.
Performance reviews also provide an opportunity to thoroughly assess team dynamics to find out what works and what doesn’t by asking each individual about their experiences working with their teams. Whether you need to move someone from one team to another, hire someone new, or make a change in leadership, performance reviews can give you all the information you need to make the right choice for you and your team.