It’s official, the first six months of 2023 have already flown by! With half the year gone, now is as good a time as ever for your company to have its mid-year review. If you’re a new business owner or new to the concept of a mid-year review, you may be wondering if it’s a worthwhile use of time. The answer? Yes. Holding a mid-year review can benefit your company and your employees in several ways. In fact, we’ve laid out the top four reasons why a mid-year review is a helpful tool for all businesses:

Pulse Check

At the beginning of the year, you likely set a number of goals for your company to achieve by the end of 2023. At this halfway point, it’s time to check on your progress. By meeting with your management team and members of each department during a mid-year review, you can get the status updates you need to determine if your team is on the right track for completing their end-of-year goals. Aside from the numbers, a mid-year review is also a great chance to check in on the employees in general. By opening a conversation about how they’re feeling in the workplace, you can find out whether you’ve created the company culture you want or if your team needs a refresh and some new motivation.

Performance Evaluation

Since a mid-year review offers your employees some one-on-one time with their leadership team, it is a great opportunity to provide personalized feedback on their performance. Just remember: a performance evaluation can be about the good and the bad. While it’s useful to offer your team some constructive criticism, it’s also important to celebrate their wins. Be sure to start by giving praise to your team so that you can show appreciation for the staff members’ contributions to the business. Any criticism that you offer up later can then be framed through this lens of success. For example, you can discuss what your employees can do to keep their winning streak going or to reach new levels of improvement. By balancing your advice between positive and constructive, it can make your suggestions much easier to deliver – and easier for your team to swallow.

Problem Solving

A mid-year review is not only a time to review numbers and track your progress, but it can also help you reflect on any obstacles still standing between you and your year-end goals. As you recognize the challenges facing you, you can also think about ways to push past them. Maybe you need to reallocate resources or introduce new techniques to assist employees in getting the job done? Perhaps you decide that it’s better to readjust your goals entirely based on the information you’re seeing halfway through the year. Either way, conducting a mid-year review can help you put together a new plan with a few actionable items that will refocus your team and set the stage for the next half of the year.

Relationship Building

As previously mentioned, one of the best parts about hosting a mid-year review is getting to engage with your employees in an open dialogue about the company. Having these conversations, especially in a one-on-one setting with each different department, then gives you a chance to strengthen the bonds between staff and leadership. When you engage your employees by encouraging them to ask questions and share ideas, you show them that what they have to say is valuable to you. In addition, providing feedback and allowing staff to collaborate with you on their plan for the remainder of the year shows that you have a true interest in their success within the organization. Moreover, building these relationships and having a transparent, engaging culture can improve employee retention as they will feel valued and appreciated by the company.

Summary

If you haven’t had one already, take some time to plan and prepare for a mid-year review. It can be extremely beneficial in the long run by giving you time to review your company’s progress, course correct if needed, and boost employee morale in the process. By turning a mid-year review into an annual staple for your business, you might find that you have an improved workplace culture and a better plan for achieving your goals.