Larry Cipolla
May 1, 2014

If there's one task that is nearly as difficult as recruiting high-quality employees, it's keeping them. When a job candidate is searching for another opportunity, they are looking for a position that allows them to grow, Inc. Magazine contributor Jason Lemkin explained.

Lemkin's experience as a two-time founder and CEO found that completing quarterly reviews was extremely helpful in retaining the company's top employees. how supervisors go about this doesn't matter, as long as they meet "with all [their] best people at least once a quarter."

"Formal, annual reviews don't work, at least not to combat turnover," he wrote.

Performance reviews can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be that way. These assessments are supposed to help employees grow with the company and help employers identify department or company-wide pain points. Failing to touch up with staff members, especially the top-performers, can become an irreversible mistake if they choose to take another job.

After all, your human resources team spent a lot of time to find these staff members and you value their contribution to the business, so don't let them get frustrated. Give them a leadership assessment that truly helps them professionally develop.

If your department or organization hasn't had a performance review yet, consider implementing one. Performance-based 360 degree feedback can help workers, even the best ones, find something they want to work on because it is presented in a matter that doesn't come off abrasive.

Traditional performance reviews are ineffective because employees leave those meetings angry. This method presents similar points from multiple perspectives, so the employee can identify that the feedback is not just the opinion of one person.