HOW TO MAKE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS A WIN-WIN EXPERIENCE

HOW TO MAKE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS A WIN-WIN EXPERIENCE

There are many reasons why appraisals are necessary. Positive reasons include the opportunity to:

• Review individual’s past performance;
• Plan their future work and role;
• Set and agree on specific individual goals for the future;
• Identify development needs and arrange for development activity;
• Provide on-the-spot coaching;
•  Obtain feedback;
• Reinforce or extend the reporting relationship;
• Act as a catalyst to delegation;
• Focus on longer term career progression;
• Underpin or increase motivation

Often a negative reason is the close relationship between appraisals and employment legislation (for example, lack of appraisal may make it impossible to terminate someone’s employment). This is also a factor to keep in mind.

Overall, the underlying intention is to improve future performance. The good appraisal presupposes that even the best performance can be improved, and seeks to increase the likelihood of future plans being brought to fruition.

Prepare Carefully

Unsurprisingly, the key to effective appraisals is preparation by both parties. The appraiser must: 

• Spend sufficient time with staff during the year
• Communicate clearly and thoroughly the purpose and form of the appraisal so people know what to expect. Employees should understand the need for appraisals, its importance, the specific objectives it addresses, and how both parties can get the best from it.
• Prepare throughout the year, keeping clear records. Keeping an appraisal collection file means you don’t have to rely on memory. In this, you should know matters that can usefully be raised at appraisals, making notes and filing copies of documents that will assist the process.

The appraisee should keep running records and should plan in detail the kind of meeting he or she intends to have. Successful appraisal is the culmination of a year’s worth of thinking.  Recalling every detail of a subordinate’s working year is difficult, but being seen to be conducting an interview on the basis of incomplete information risks loss of credibility. Managers can only appraise successfully by being informed. 

Relevant background information needs checking, for example, the appraisee’s job description (which may need amendment after the appraisal), specific past objectives, possible changes to the job, its responsibilities, and the records of any previous appraisals. 

Sound preparation gives appraisal meetings structure.

Work The System

It is not the purpose here to specify exactly how formal measurement in appraisal systems should work. But the measurement-rating scale – must ensure consistency, clarity, and fairness. 

• Create a good, manageable system or familiarize yourself with what you must use.
• Make its constructive purposes clear 
• Communicate the procedures, documentation, and action clearly to appraisees.
• Use the process objectively.

Details matter; for example, many favor rating scales with the total number even to eliminate the temptation to rate too many criteria as average. Ultimately, you may need to balance what suits you best and what the system you use necessitates. Attention to detail is vital; the following outlines a systematic approach likely to work well.

Before The Appraisal Interview

Prepare written notification: As well as confirming mutually convenient timing, this should recap the purpose of the appraisal and highlight background information. Distribute copies of any documents or forms you intend to use or refer to during the meeting.

Study the individual’s file: Make sure you have all the information you need about what was supposed to happen during the year and what actually did happen. Make notes of points needing discussion and see to it that you can navigate the documents easily as the meeting progresses.

Check performance factors: Review agree-on standards and identify any that are no longer relevant or that need to be changed.

Draft a provisional Assessment: Brief notes can provide a starting point, prompt the agenda, and link to the system. Don’t prejudge the discussion or make decisions prematurely.

Critique your initial thoughts: Check your rationale, asking yourself a why question about anything noted at this stage. If no clear answer comes, more research may be necessary.

Consider specific areas of the appraisal: It may be clear that some training is necessary, for example. Again without prejudging, it may be useful to check out what might be appropriate and formulate a suggestion before the meeting.

Think ahead: Remember that the most important part of the discussion will be about the future.  You may need to plan particular projects and tasks, taking both development and operational considerations into account.

 Consult with others:  Speak to those who work or deal with the appraisee to get a complete picture.

Be clear about the link with pay review:  Many managers feel this should be kept for a separate occasion.  Otherwise it can be difficult to stop appraisees from thinking all that matter is the potential raise.

Setting Up The Interview

Allow enough time: You need to do the job and also to reflect the importance of the occasion. Few appraisals will be accomplished properly in less than one hour; some may last two or three hours – and will still be time usefully spent.

Allow no disturbances: Pausing to take one telephone call sends out the wrong signals.

Create the right environment: Appraisals should be held somewhere comfortable, perhaps less formal than across the desk, yet suitably businesslike. 

Put the individual at ease: Recognize that even with good communication beforehand, appraisals may be viewed as something traumatic. Anything that can be done to counter this is useful. 

During The Meeting

• Spell out the agenda and how things will be handled: Ask what priorities the appraisee wants recognized.
• Act to direct the proceedings: Do not, however, ride roughshod over the appraisee.
• Ask questions: Open questions prompt and focus discussion.
• Listen: The meeting is primarily an opportunity for the appraisee to communicate. In a well-conducted appraisal, the appraisee should do most of the talking; the manager’s job is to make that happen.
• Keep primarily to performance factors: Don’t indulge in amateur psychology or attempt to measure personality factors. 
• Use the system: Use systems and appraisal forms to guide the meeting, working through the form systematically will ensure that most of what needs to happen does.
• Encourage discussion: Consider the appraisee’s personal strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, and their implications for the future.
• Set out plans: Describe those that can be decided there and then (who will do what, when), note those needing more deliberation in terms of when and how action will be taken. Deal with each factor separately, for example, by devoting time to development action.
• Explain the basis of assessment: Make the basis and reasons for your assessment clear. Be firm about your decisions.
• Conclude on a positive note: Always thank the appraisee for the role he or she has played and for the past year’s work. Link this to any subsequent documentation.

After The Meeting

There is one key action here: to complete all documentation and confirmations that are necessary promptly after the meeting. Send copies to the appraisee, flagging any opportunity for further discussion. Copy to central departments such as personnel as well as your own file. 

Conclusion

Appraisals are not one-shot deals. No manager can afford to heave a sigh of relief afterwards and forget about them for another year.  Appraisals achieve most when placed in a long-term context and linked to ongoing operations. Consider: 

• The ongoing management relationship: an effective appraisal should make all management processes through the year easier.
• The link with training and development: Consultation, counseling, mentoring, and informal discussions are all just as important extensions of appraisal as formal training.
• Motivation: Appraisals must themselves be motivational, and what stems from them must assist ongoing motivational activity.

For whatever reasons (and there may be many, such as unease with the process, or inflexibility of systems), the considerable opportunity of appraisals is often missed or diluted. Appraisals are not only a vehicle for change, one that can be precise and powerful, they’re also a catalyst for effective management, and thus effective performance.  The benefits are considerable and tangible. 

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