As we enter the end of the year, now is an ideal moment to reflect on the investment that we have made in ourselves, as well as what we have invested toward our employees and our organizations. Hopefully, we have all learned much this year that has benefited us. Now, it is getting close to the harvest, and it is time to reap what we have sowed. It’s time to follow up mid-year reviews with end-of-year actions.

What to Harvest from Review Time

Last month, you’ll recall that we discussed the mid-year reviews. This simple yet powerful element of human resources management is critical with respect to the care and feeding of us all. Performance assessments and employee-manager check-ins provide everyone on your staff with a reminder of the mission and vision of the organization — the “why” that forms the foundation of the work being done. 

Review time also opens the door for reviewing the seeds planted (e.g., mission, vision, and goals) and their effect on performance. It’s an opportunity to listen to the needs of the employee, and provide them with the nutrients necessary to be successful — the mentorship, training, and guidance that drive growth. 

Don’t Assume Results — Test and Find Out for Sure!

With mid-year reviews, you’ve done a great job setting up the possibilities. So, don’t let them slip through your fingers. Ensure they’re productive! As you know, many of the fruits of our labor fall below the ground. Yes, it is wonderful to get the bright, shiny flower that blooms up top. But there are those magnificent seeds that bloom below, creating the roots for strong, healthy plants that yield so much fruit. 

Our role is to see what’s growing and do our part to help those plants grow as they should. We hope that the great efforts we are making as managers, leaders, and employers are productive. We hope that those seeds we’ve planted have returned to yield a great result. But we don’t know until we investigate. And for this reason, our discussion on performance after the mid-year review continues. 

Value the Work Your Team Has Done This Year

Historically, harvesting required gathering the ripe crops from the field, which meant acting quickly and wisely as those crops represented the most prized results of the farmer’s efforts. ^[1] Today it also includes a celebration of results, understanding the opportunity for improvement and consideration of the next year.  

Harvest time in the workplace includes a review of our people, ourselves as leaders, and the environment and implications of the future. Employees are not food for fodder. They are enablers of our determination to achieve marketplace results, the drivers of the success of what we have done for the past year. So, celebrate them and take care of them! We are a team.  

Leverage What You Have Learned

Now, how must we begin our harvest? We started with the mid-year reviews. We have worked with our teams to ensure future success. We have done this by:

1. Talking to employees to understand their motivations, concerns, and capabilities.
2. Ensuring their goals are in alignment with the organization’s mission. 
3. Listening to what the employees need. 

But have we really done this? We must be sure, so that we actually can gather the fruits from the crops we’ve planted.

When we enter into the harvest, we begin by: 

1. Reviewing what has happened to nurture and ensure readiness for harsh situations, changes in direction, and lack of resources.
2. Working to ensure proper care in the case of potential change in the mission (e.g., more squash and less potatoes).
3. Watching and addressing those employees who are in solid growth, those dying on the vine, and those blooming and ready for more.

Your own harvest as a manager begins with ensuring YOU are ready for the future. Take a moment to assess yourself and your role.

• Think about what you need from YOU. 
• Ask what you need from your team. 
• Be transparent about what it will take to be successful. 
• Reap what you sow. Recognize your role and accept your accomplishments. 
• Plan for MORE success next year.

Remember, the future holds so much potential! You and your team are awesome. And now, at harvest time, you can appreciate that and move forward into more growth for next year.

Grow Your Human Resources Offerings with the Pros at Who’s Your HR?

Knowing what your team has achieved is the start of future growth, but it’s not the only step. Leveraging what you’ve learned, encoding it in best practices, and maintaining a strong staff of great employees will help your business to continue to thrive.

At Who’s Your HR?, we support organizations with professional, specialized human resources help so you can focus on your business’s success. Connect with us today to discuss how we can support you with hiring best practices, people management, staff training, employee testing, and all the other HR tasks that will set you up for a future filled with success.

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^[1] https://www.mmfc.coop/morsel/how-farmers-harvest-deliver-their-crops/