Hey Ravi – thanks for your questions.
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The best way to evaluate people is based off the work/output they produce versus the expectations agreed upon for them. Remote work isn’t any different than in-person work in that performance = the actual results that the person produced. In terms of making sure that remote employees stay connected with the business, you’ll want to: (1) Clearly define what you mean by “connect with the business”. Do you mean feel connected to the vision? To the people? To the work? (2) Create systems + cadence of interactions that reinforce the intended outcome. For example if you want people to feel more connected to the company vision over time, you’ll want to hold 1:1 conversations to figure out what are people’s personal visions, and how do they align / match up to the team’s vision. Or, if you want people to feel connected to their coworkers over time, you’ll want to invest in opportunities for social interaction (e.g., buddy system, virtual coffees, our Social Question in KYT).
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360 evaluations can be hit or miss depending on how you do them. One consideration is to keep in mind that they take a lot of time, depending on how many people you have – so quarterly might in fact be too often. The most common frequency we see is 2X a year. (If you have 100+ people, I’d recommend no more than 2X a year) You’ll want to make sure these 360 reviews are NOT tied to compensation, so people don’t feel pressure to weight + bias their reviews. Instead, communicate the underlying purpose to be reflection + improvement. Lastly, ensure that a self-review is included in the 360 – it enables the person themselves to take stock of their own performance and calibrate how they’d like to move forward in the coming months/years.
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I hear you on the chasing habit
One of the best ways to avoid this is (1) ensure that expectations for sharing progress is clear and (2) create an opportunity for your team to proactively share progress. For the latter, we here at KYT internally use our Heartbeat Check-in for this. Every morning, via Slack or email, a check-in is sent out that asks, “What did you work on yesterday, and what are you working on today?” Folks can fill the Heartbeat out that day when it best suits them. And after they do, the answers are shared with everyone. No one is interrupted. And everyone – not just you as the leader – get to benefit from seeing the answers. This way, you’re creating a shared expectation of distributing information for everyone’s benefit – not running around and chasing folks to figure out is something is done
Regarding onboarding, it is mainly product led in that we have a guided tour + onboarding videos. We also offer personal 1:1 calls with me, on a limited basis, for folks who want great support and guidance.
Thanks for these questions, again, and best of luck to you!