As a medical office manager, you are largely responsible for making sure that quality health care services are delivered in an efficient manner, right down to creating work schedules for physicians and employees with medical assisting careers.1 One of the many important duties of an office manager is to conduct employee evaluations. While these performance reviews may seem like a waste of time, they give you an opportunity to encourage and create the behavior you want to see in your office. Staff members expect these reviews, as reviews allow staff members to know what is expected of them through constructive criticism and motivation. 2
Be fully prepared
In order to keep employee evaluations from being long, drawn-out, boring exercises, office managers should come to these meetings fully prepared. Think about the key messages that you want to convey, both positive and negative. One key way to prepare for these reviews is to make a note of employees’ performances throughout the year. Having specific examples at the ready will help you illustrate the points you are trying to make.3
Look to the future
While past performance must be taken into account during employee evaluations, the ultimate goal is to give employees feedback that will help them be better at their jobs in the future. As a result, don’t spend too much time focusing on the past. Instead, make candid remarks based on job performance (not personality) that relates to the specific aspects of employees’ jobs. Making sweeping, vague remarks won’t help anyone.4
Cover your bases
Sometimes it can be difficult to know what should be covered during a performance review because the concept is so broad. During each employee evaluation, try to cover topics like their strengths and weaknesses, and the goals and priorities of the practice. In addition, employee evaluations present a great opportunity to review job descriptions, recognize good work and talk about any impediments to positive job performance.5 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘What Medical and Health Services Managers Do,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Management/Medical-and-health-services-managers.htm#tab-2 2 Pennachio, Dorothy, ModernMedicine, ‘Performance reviews: Doing them right,’ July 1, 2003 – http://www.modernmedicine.com/modern-medicine/news/performance-reviews-doing-them-right 3 Quast, Lisa, Forbes, ‘How to Make Performance Reviews Relevant,’ Jan. 21, 2013 – http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2013/01/21/how-to-make-performance-reviews-relevant/ 4 Pennachio, Dorothy, ModernMedicine, ‘Performance reviews: Doing them right,’ July 1, 2003 – http://www.modernmedicine.com/modern-medicine/news/performance-reviews-doing-them-right 5 Levoy, Bob, Physicians Practice, ‘Tested Tips for Performance Reviews,’ Oct. 27, 2010 – http://www.physicianspractice.com/pearls/tested-tips-performance-reviews
