It comes down to, why do you want or need to...
It can cause stress, waste time and get no where, it can also pinpoint areas to work on.

IF you have happy staff, mostly, and the basic numbers show things are jprofitable enough to be worthwhile, then continue as is. However, if you have concerns about any of the above there might be other things you can do.

The aim: Happy staff, good profits, good principles to live by, continue.

Measure those, performance measurement may alienate and or stress people out.

From my perspective as a sales trainer I think regular feedback (as often as weekly) is very important. From a psychological perspective it is easier to take regular small bites of feedback rather than swallowing an entire annual performance review. This is part of the "Kaizen" philosophy which undergirds many of the top companies globally.

I tend to agree more with Benjamin.  We all need feedback and recognition.  That is difficult to provide if we do not measure the important things.  That isn't just about profit.  Whilst that may be an aspect, the skills and knowledge of your people need to be recognised and how they contribute to outcomes (such as profit).  Communication is vital and I agree with Benjamin that a regular - possibly weekly - meeting with each staff member helps to ensure communication is kept open.  Just 30 minutes is all it takes.  Increase or reduce the time and frequency as necessry.

It is at these meetings where performance can be discussed - also where you can find out in a casual and relaxed approach what may be causing any issues.  These may not be directly relating to performance althoiugh could be impacting that.  For example personal issues outside of work.

The days of annual appraisal are gone (thankfully) the era of continuous improvement is here.  It is about managing the performance of each individual for their benefiit and that of your organisation and ultimately those you serve.  'Performance Management' is a term oftern used to imply or suggest moving a person out of a role for poor performance.  Surely as a leader it is our responsibility to help manage everyones' performance so they can be their 'best self'.

I think what you raise here is super helfpul, @Steve Gray! What's the Why behind the What? Evaluating performance is great in order to keep getting amazing results as a team. It's something I found happens in most of my business (and personal) relationships: "Is this going where we want it to go?" and if not "What are you willing to take on to get us where you want to go?" are two questions that help redirect the focus to the goals and what each person wants/can take on to achieve them. Self-evaluation is great tactics, it drives accountability and overall success... I wonder what are ways people are evaluating staff's performance informally! @Daniel Brady and @Kavitha Vipulananda , what are some of your experiences or questions around this? Tag 2 people to go next after you ;)