Painless job appraisal

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2005 (7555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AS the calendar moves toward spring and summer, students and teachers hunker down for the anticipated annual ritual of school examinations. Employees on the other hand, often are anxious as the time for their annual performance appraisal also draws near.

Unfortunately however, employee evaluation or “performance appraisal” is one of the most poorly managed areas of all management functions. For instance, a recent report by the Society for Human Resource Management indicated that only three out of 10 workers agreed their company’s performance management system helped to improve their performance. But this low rating isn’t because the system itself is defective, it’s typically because managers feel threatened by the process and do not carry out this task very well.

Actually, many managers hate the process of performance appraisal. They are uncomfortable providing candid feedback or engaging in honest discussions. As a result, they neglect their performance management function until the last possible moment and then because of time constraints, they deliver their appraisal messages quite ineffectively.

Yet effective employee performance management is one of the most important responsibilities that managers have. It is a critical component of creating a high performing organization culture. What then constitutes an effective performance management process? The following guidelines will assist you:

Apply a competency performance model: This approach provides a full description and definition of all the success factors and the performance rating levels so that everyone understands and uses the same language during the performance process. A competency approach takes the guesswork out of rating your employees and can be adjusted for the various levels in your organization.

Ensure a simple process: Most organizations have no more than three key competency areas and a total of seven-10 key factors, not all of them applying to every job. Avoid lengthy forms and, if possible, make your performance management tool readily available on your intranet. If your process and forms are not user friendly, they won’t be implemented effectively.

Utilize a numerical rating system: A five to seven point numerical scale will enable you to differentiate between employees and provide the ability to provide summary or comparative scores. Be sure to define your ratings so they can be applied uniformly and fairly. Avoid trying to weight your factors as this simply creates unnecessary administrative activity.

Train your managers: Creating well-structured performance management tools is one thing but the process won’t be successful unless management is trained to apply and implement effectively. Managers must be serious about the process and feel confident in dealing with performance issues and be honest and candid when describing employee work behaviours.

Communicate corporate strategy: Be sure to make each employee aware of the corporate strategic direction and goals. Help them to understand how their work is critical to the company’s success.

Engage in performance planning: At the beginning of each performance cycle, meet with each employee and review their performance expectations including both behaviour and expected results. Outline the behaviour standards and make sure that employees understand how they apply to their job. Involve employees in developing their annual goals.

Link results to strategy: Refine and translate the corporate goals to each level of the organization so that employees understand what they need to achieve in their own job. Be sure that the number of goals is reasonable, challenging and doable so that employee motivation is sustained.

Create a continuous feedback loop: Feedback needs to be a continuous, two-way communication process. On one hand, managers need to provide constructive, candid and timely feedback while on the other hand, employees need to seek out feedback so they are always certain of understanding their performance goals.

Provide timely feedback: If feedback is going to be successful and useful, it must be provided in a timely manner. Provide your feedback in a private location and be specific about both effective and ineffective behaviours. Take great care to focus on actions and behaviours rather than personality. Work with the employee to develop action steps to address developmental needs.

Prepare ongoing documentation: Accurate documentation is critical to effective performance management. Documentation can include a record of discussions, encounters or actions taken with employees. Give examples. Be sure to use objective language that describes behaviour and refers to measurable criteria. Avoid any interpretation. Stay away from emotional descriptions and interpretations.

Ask for employee input: Involving employees in self-evaluation helps to create ownership and acceptance of the results. It also helps to create a better framework for the evaluation discussion and allows the manager to understand the employee’s view of their contribution. Ask your employees to prepare a summary of what they perceive to be their key accomplishments during the performance cycle.

Evaluate process as well as results: Some employees achieve significant results but at the same time engage in workplace behaviours that are disruptive and destroy employee morale. On the other hand, we’ve all encountered a great communicator who doesn’t accomplish a thing at work. As a result, management has now recognized and accepted that employee behaviour at work is equally as important to measuring tangible results and has led to the inclusion of behaviour evaluation in performance appraisal models.

Use different rating sources: Acquiring evaluation information from different sources helps to create a more well-rounded viewpoint of an individuals performance. The result is a more credible assessment that removes the manager from being perceived as the “sole judge and evaluator” and reduces personal bias.

Performance review: If continuous feedback has been applied, than the final performance review is really a “recap” of has already been said. Be sure to discuss the entire performance cycle rather than concentrating on the most recent period. There should be no surprises but rather discuss developmental needs and establish new performance standards for the next evaluation cycle. Take your time and do not rush through this meeting.

Separate performance from pay: Separating pay and performance discussions typically helps to facilitate more open discussions about work tasks and behaviours. Leave some time between meetings and then discuss pay and promotion decisions at a later date.

While school examinations are always anxiety producing, neither the time set aside for employee performance appraisals nor the overall appraisal process itself should serve to create a high level of employee anxiety. If anxiety is indeed created, take steps to re-examine your performance management system.

Source: SHRM Performance Management Toolkit, 2005, Adopt Smarter, Not Tougher Performance Reviews, Linda Thornburg, January 2004.

Barbara J. Bowes, FCHRP, CMC, is president of Bowes Leadership Group. She can be reached at barb@bowesgroup.com.