Appraising the performance appraisal

Year after year, after these appraisals are executed, it appears that not much is done to monitor its progress during the following year. It seems to me that one really bad mistake that managers make all the time is to wait until appraisal time to point out where they went wrong, what duties were not performed and generally, what was expected. In other words, the real point is that managers should always nip it in the bud instead of letting things get out of hand.

You should certainly not wait until performance appraisal time to terminate someone who isn’t performing satisfactorily. If as a manager, you are not pleased with the performance of an employee, please don’t avoid that employee and then tell the employee in question that the reason why you were avoiding him/her was because you were not happy with his/her performance. That is the most ridiculous thing any manager can say!!! Be upfront with your employees and guide them along. After all, that’s what you are there for.

Business owners have been evaluating the performance of their employees for as long as businesses have existed. But not all entrepreneurs take the time to review their employees, and even when they do, the reviews are often done in a haphazard way or on an irregular basis or are instigated only after a negative action on the part of the employee. These type of encounters are rarely productive because they usually only afford the boss an opportunity to "get something off their chest."

It is quite imperative that certain guidelines are followed when conducting the annual performance appraisals:-

1. Design a legally valid performance review process; consider these legal requirements of the performance review process: Patricia King, in her book, Performance Planning and Appraisal, states that the law requires that performance appraisals be: job-related and valid; based on a thorough analysis of the job; standardised for all employees; not biased against any race, colour, sex, religion, or nationality; and performed by people who have adequate knowledge of the person or job. Be sure to build in the process, a route for recourse if an employee feels he or she has been dealt with unfairly in an appraisal process, eg, that the employee can go to his or her supervisor’s supervisor. The process should be clearly described in a personnel policy.

2. Design a standard form for performance appraisals, and include the name of the employee, date the performance form was completed, dates specifying the time interval over which the employee is being evaluated, performance dimensions (include responsibilities from the job description, any assigned goals from the strategic plan, along with needed skills, such as communications, administration, etc), a rating system (eg.., poor, average, good, excellent), space for commentary for each dimension, a final section for overall commentary, a final section for action plans to address improvements, and lines for signatures of the supervisor and employee. Signatures may either specify that the employee accepts the appraisal or has seen it, depending on wording on the form.

3. Schedule the first performance review for six months after the employee starts employment. Schedule another six months later, and then every year on the employee’s anniversary date.

4. Initiate the performance review. Tell the employee that you’re initiating a scheduled performance review. Remind them of what’s involved in the process. Schedule a meeting about two weeks before. Not today for tomorrow.

5. Have the employee suggest any updates to the job description and provide written input to the appraisal.

Have them record their input concurrent to your recording theirs. Have them record their input on their own sheets (their feedback will be combined on the official form later on in the process). You and the employee can exchange each of your written feedback in the upcoming review meeting. (Note that by now, employees should have received the job descriptions and goals well in advance of the review, ie, a year before. The employee should also be familiar with the performance appraisal procedure and form.) It’s awfully difficult to defend an employment action if the underlying documentation is unreliable.

6. Record your input to the appraisal — always reference the job description and associated formal goals for basis of review. Be sure you are familiar with the job requirements and have sufficient contact with the employee to be making valid judgments.

Don’t comment on the employee’s race, sex, religion, nationality, or a handicap or veteran status. Record major accomplishments, exhibited strengths and weaknesses according to the dimensions on the appraisal form, and suggest actions and training or development to improve performance. Use examples of behaviours wherever you can in the appraisal to help avoid counting on hearsay. Always address behaviours, not characteristics of personalities. The best way to follow this guideline is to consider what you saw with your eyes. Be sure to address only the behaviours of that employee, rather than behaviours of other employees.

7. Hold the performance appraisal meeting.

State the meeting’s goal of exchanging feedback and coming to action plans, where necessary. In the meeting, let the employee speak first and give their input. Respond with your own input. Then discuss areas where you disagree. Discuss behaviours, not personalities. Avoid final terms such as "always," "never," etc. Encourage participation and be supportive. Come to terms on actions, where possible. Try to end the meeting on a positive note. Avoid being argumentative and confrontational during the appraisal meeting. How you say something may be more important than what you say. Many lawsuits arise because of perceived unfair treatment not substantive issues. Be honest and direct, but calm and professional.

8. Update and finalise the performance appraisal form.

Add agreed-to commentary to the form. Note that if the employee wants to add or attach written input to the final form, he or she should be able to do so. The supervisor signs the form and asks the employee to sign it. The form and its action plans are reviewed every few months, usually during one-on-one meetings with the employee. Remember that "what you say can and will be used against you."

9. Note that if the supervisor has been doing a good job supervising, then nothing should be surprising to the employee during the appraisal. Any performance issues should have been conveyed when they occurred, so nothing should be a surprise in the review meeting. Neglecting to discuss problems and document them fails to give an employee notice of deficiencies and the opportunity to improve. Most people (and juries) would perceive that as unfair.

DONE EVERY DAY

Let me suggest that the best performance appraisal is one that is done every day. While this may seem onerous for a small business, it’s becoming increasingly necessary, not just as a way to justify a raise or a termination, but because it will allow you to do things that will increase performance and morale. Measurement allows you to see small changes in performance so that you can do things in a timely way to either correct performance or to provide positive reinforcement for improvement or for a job well done. The best outcome for your company is to have all employees doing their best every day. Your success should be measured by the percentage of employees that you make successful, not by the number that you fire.

Avoiding performance issues ultimately decreases morale, decreases credibility of management, decreases the organization’s overall effectiveness and wastes more of management’s time to do what isn’t being done properly. So my final advice to ALL managers about performance appraisals is, if you’ve got something to say to employees, spit it out, don’t wait for their annual reviews.

Vicky Boodram.is an HR/Marketing Lecturer and Consultant

vickyboodram@hotmail.com