“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” (Stephen R. Covey, author of ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’) Good business leaders recognise that regular employee performance reviews play a vital role in improving transparency, identifying talent, and enhancing performance – yet often this process is handled in a casual fashion or even not implemented at all. In fact, a recent study revealed that only 13% of employees and managers, and only 6% of CEOs, think their organisation’s performance appraisal system is useful. Even worse, 88% of respondents said their current performance review negatively impacted their opinion of the HR department. Here are six tips for turning those opinions around and getting maximum value from your performance reviews. Tip 1: Really listen During a review it’s vital that the employee feels truly understood. Data shows that leaders who come to reviews with preconceived notions and a list of complaints are more likely to have unhappy teams. A massive 85% of employees would consider quitting if they thought their review to be unfair – and there is no surer way of making someone feel unfairly treated than to brush off their side of the story and make them feel unheard. Companies should therefore focus on getting their leaders to: actively listen to employees during reviews avoid making assumptions ignore distractions such as phone calls pay attention to verbal and nonverbal cues. Tip 2: Be transparent Because performance reviews are often linked to raises and other benefits, it’s extremely important that the employee understands exactly why certain decisions were made. Giving clear, fair, specific and actionable feedback allows the employee to see how they can get a better raise next year and what they need to do to gain a promotion. Vague or unclear feedback only leads to distrust of the system – and of the company’s HR and leadership. Tip 3: Keep looking forward While the very name “performance review” suggests a look back over the course of the past year, it’s also the ideal time to project forward into the future. By using the review to set new goals and speak about career progression, your leaders will be able to motivate employees to do well. Knowing that you’re being considered for promotions or that there are rewards at the end of the tunnel is motivational. Little wonder, then, that forward-looking performance reviews have been shown to improve employee productivity by 13%. Tip 4: Your employee’s opinion matters A decent performance review is a conversation between employer and employee. It is a chance to listen as well as to speak, and this dynamic should be carried through to the very design of the review. Speak with both managers and employees about the reviews. Ask them what works and what doesn’t and encourage them to suggest things that would make the process more useful. Then actually adjust the review to accommodate these requests where possible. Employees who feel they have power and buy-in over the review…

“Many companies have forgotten they sell to actual people. Humans care about the entire experience, not just marketing, sales, or service.” (Dharmesh Shah, CTO and co-founder, HubSpot) Brand awareness is at the heart of building a successful business. If your target customers, and the public at large don’t know who you are, you might as well close your doors. Promotional gifts have long been a powerful and effective element of successful marketing. But recently companies seem to be forgetting this and instead are offering their customers the cheapest thing they can stick a logo on. This attitude lowers the effectiveness of the brand campaign, and risks making your promotional gifting a total waste of money. Here are five reasons you should ask your accountant to free up the budget for a proper campaign, rather than handing out something your client is just going to put in the bin. Build a real connection By giving your customer a cheap, nearly useless gift you inadvertently send them the signal that they are unimportant to you. A well-thought-out gift that they can actually use does the opposite. This doesn’t mean you need to break the bank (although spending big for high-end clients can be well worth it). Think of items that they may need such as a torch, measuring tape, or small kitchen implement. Another great option is experiential gifting. Depending on the customer, this might be a round of golf at a sought-after course, or a bungee jumping voucher. By giving customers something they might really use (or an experience they will never forget), you make them feel like you value them as more than just a source of income. In a recent report, 58% of respondents said that they kept useful promotional gifts for more than a year, and many of them for a lot longer. Your customer becomes the advert If you’re really crafty, you’ll give people something they can actually use outside of their home. By giving folks a gift they’ll go out with, you turn them into a walking billboard for your business. An umbrella, backpack, or warm jacket that is built to last will give you many years of value as your brand will be subtly showcased at events and venues you haven’t even dreamed of. Love at first sight Many companies first meet new customers at events or expos. By giving potential customers a gift before they have even bought anything, you stand out from the horde of other companies vying for their business. Once again, you need to make your gift useful – if everyone else is doing pens and lanyards, your bottle opener, snack or kids’ toy can be the difference between blending into the crowd and being remembered when the time comes to make an enquiry. According to Giftsenda’s Customer Gifting Report for 2024, almost 85% of people who receive a promotional item remember the advertiser, with 82% of recipients saying it gave them a more favourable perception of that brand. What’s more,…