Six Steps to Successful Performance Appraisals - Part One

Read Part Two of this article

The following two-part article describes the six key steps managers can take to ensure a successful employee performance appraisal.

Step One: Preparation.

Think of setting objectives as a road map with a set of directions. The road map is your organization, or your industry, and the directions you set lead employees to their goal. If people don't know where they're going, how can you necessarily expect them to get there? How will they know when they've arrived? It's also critical to get employees' input on their own objectives if you want to increase their commitment to achieving those goals. If people feel that they have a voice in their assignments, they will frequently work harder toward the success of these tasks.

Step Two: Assessment.

As a manager, a critical responsibility you have is assessing and giving timely feedback to your staff on their performance. There are many benefits to doing this. Performance feedback that is given as soon as possible has proven to be the most effective: it's not fair or effective to tell someone how she messed up, or (more rarely) how well she did, weeks after the job is done. Let people know quickly so they can either address the error or replicate the success.

This also addresses two of the most common fears that managers have about performance appraisals:

1. Confrontations
2. Surprises

Many managers avoid delivering performance reviews because they fear confrontation. They see it as an "us versus them" event. This is usually a result of a lack of communication between the manager and staff.

If the performance review is the only time that managers talk with staff about how they're doing, and if employees feel that this one meeting has tremendous impact on their salary increases, then the meeting takes on enormous proportions.

With all the tension in the room, how can it be a successful interchange? Most employees, when questioned in a survey as to what the once-a-year review reminded them of, responded, "A trip to the principal's office." Ongoing communication throughout the year is the key to reducing the fear and anxiety associated with this meeting for both participants.

When asked what they want out of the performance review meeting, both managers and staff most often respond, "No surprises."

This is what I hear even more often than a hope for the highest rating. Not everyone expects to be a superstar, but people want to know how they are doing. They don't want to have it sprung on them at the last minute, when they no longer have the opportunity to do anything about it. They want to be treated with respect and as partners throughout the performance cycle. Continuous assessment and feedback is the key to ensuring that there are no surprises, which of course also lessens the likelihood of a confrontation. Surprises beget confrontations. Communication prevents them.

Step Three: Reviewing documents.

Before you actually sit down with an employee for a performance evaluation, review all of your documentation from the year. Take a look again at the objectives that you and the employee agreed to and documented at the beginning of the year. Look for any commendations or letters you may have received about the employee during the review period.

In the next article, we will cover the final steps in giving very productive performance appraisals for your team and organization.

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