The end of the year seems to be the normal time for many companies to prepare performance appraisals for their employees. All companies should have a formal employee appraisal system.
Most well run organizations recognize the importance of having a good appraisal system. Not only should you review performance and discuss problems, but you should also set goals for the next period and discuss career advancement. Employees receive feedback, input, direction and motivation. And the company benefits by having a formal development system, a motivation system, a specified feedback system, as well as documentation and legal protection. Hopefully you will never be involved with complaints of illegal termination or discrimination; documented appraisals can offer legal protection in addition to serving as a preventive measure.
A good appraisal system will include performance expectations and measurement tools. These tools should be well defined and understood. Many systems use a numerical rating system from one to five, others may use the grading system we remember from schools (A-F) and a few just use textual designations. Be sure that the numerical or alphabetic measurements are well defined. The mid-point measurement should be defined as meeting the standards for the job. The two upper levels should be generally defined as exceeding standards for the job and well above the standards for the jobs. The lower levels should indicate a need for slight improvements to meet the standards for the job, or be well below standards. Do not ever use the term average: most people do not want to be considered average.
Some companies may use a “management by objective” system, where employees are measured on how well they met specific goals that have been defined to them in advance. These could be specific performance measurements, such as the number of new customers added by a salesperson. There could also be measurement of other specific job-related behaviors, such as attendance.
All of these measurement systems must be specific, clear, useful, fair, and consistent. When discussing either strong or weak performance actions, use specific examples if possible.
A corporate or departmental tally should be kept with the results of each performance review. Calculations should be made to determine the percentage of employees in each level, to ensure that there is not a tendency to over-rate employees. It is much more comfortable for a manager to rate a person higher than their true performance than to be totally honest. Approximately two thirds of your employees should be at the “meeting standards” category. “Exceeding standards” should comprise about 17-20%, “well above” should be about 3-5%, and about the 5-8% in the two “below standards” categories. If you have any employees at the lowest level, plans should be underway to terminate this employee after they are given a reasonable and documented chance to correct their deficiencies.
The appraisals must be designed so they are totally objective, accurate and complete. Be sure that all employees are appraised in approximately the same, regular time frame. When setting the goals for the next appraisal, be sure that they are measureable, realistic, observable and based on the job requirements. These goals should be challenging and must be prioritized through mutual discussions.
If at all possible, determine a schedule for the individual appraisals so that the appraisal date does not coincide with the timing of pay increases. While a portion of most salary or wage increase systems should be based on performance, it is much easier to conduct an honest appraisal when the employee knows that there will not be a pay discussion at the end of the meeting.
Be sure that the employee fully participates in the discussion. They must be active in the goal-setting process and the development of the action plans to meet these goals. It is usually quite helpful to get them to discuss their perception of their own strengths and weaknesses. Often this can be an opportunity for the employee to discuss his/her opinion of the company and/or you as their manager. The more you can involve the employee in the process, the more involved they will be in designing their new goals, and the appraisal mechanisms used to measure their attainment of those goals.
Finally, at the end of the meeting, be sure the individual understands how their performance meshes with the company’s goals, and how their success will help the company meet its objectives. Be absolutely sure that they understand the points discussed in the meeting. After ensuring this, ask them to sign the appraisal and offer an opportunity for them to respond with written comments.
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