1. Lack Of Focus On Performance
You're measuring how well an employee has achieved job goals: how well the employee has performed at work. It's not a measure of "dress" or "demeanour" or "attitude" or "relationships" or any of those fuzzy, waffly, social and emotional attributes that some managers love to include, inappropriately, in performance appraisal.
2. Lack of Clear Performance Standards
You must establish crystal clear performance standards for the employee to meet. The employees must know the standards exactly. They must also know how their performance will be measured against them. Without clear performance standards you can't have truly effective appraisal.
3. "Behaviour" Gets In The Way
This is a very common trap. We forget about how well an employee has performed because he's "untidy" or she's "messy". Small incidents of slightly inadequate behaviour are magnified into major problems. A salesperson achieves 175% of budget but receives a poor appraisal because his or her paperwork's "a bit sloppy" or he or she's "outspoken". This sort of demotivating nonsense is all too common.
4. Forms Are Just A Record
"The person who spends most time on performance appraisal in our company is me, trying to get the forms filled in". The gentleman who said this was Head of Human Resources for a major multinational. His company was renowned for its appraisal scheme. If you use a performance appraisal form, make sure that measuring performance is far more important than filling out the form.
5. Opinions Endanger Good Appraisal
Don't let opinions interfere with appraisal. "The girls in dispatch tell me that you don't respect them". "The accounts people complain about the clarity of your expense claims". "I'm told you've been late for some appointments recently". All these statements are hearsay. And mostly, they're not about performance. Opinions aren't facts. Unless they're substantial and can be shown to have a negative influence on job performance, they have no place in performance appraisal.
6. Ignoring Team Effectiveness
All employees are members of at least one team. Most are members of more than one. Their performance will be a direct reflection of their effectiveness as a team member. Include team effectiveness when measuring performance.
7. Overlooking The Business
It seems incredible but lots of managers don't consider employee contribution to the business when assessing performance. An employee can appear to do well. But if what they do doesn't help make a positive contribution to business effectiveness and development, their contribution may not be particularly valuable. Use performance appraisal as an opportunity to remind employees that effective business contribution is essential.
8. Performance Muddling
This is another common trap. Performance appraisal is about measuring performance. But we decide to extend it. We use it as an opportunity to assess training needs, promotion prospects, undertake career counselling, decide on wage or salary increases and a whole lot of stuff, most of which has almost nothing to do with measuring performance. And these "muddles" often assume far greater importance than the performance measurement itself.
9. Ignoring The Future
Performance appraisal whether formal, informal or even casual is a great time to explain to employees what you expect of them in the future. We spend lots of time discussing past performance but too little setting the parameters for future performance. The past is history. It can't be undone. Concentrate on the future.
10. Missing Employee Input
Whether your appraisal is brief or lengthy it's a great time to get suggestion for improvement from employees. "What do you think?" is a question that should be asked frequently by managers during performance appraisal. It's a great opportunity to gain employee input. If you don't ask, you won't know.
Conclusion
Sound performance appraisal is essential in any business. But it's hard to do well when we, as managers, include so many obstacles to success. Form filling and intense interviews don't constitute performance appraisal. But absolutely unambiguous and measurable performance standards are the key. If you're serious about measuring employee performance, start there.
You're measuring how well an employee has achieved job goals: how well the employee has performed at work. It's not a measure of "dress" or "demeanour" or "attitude" or "relationships" or any of those fuzzy, waffly, social and emotional attributes that some managers love to include, inappropriately, in performance appraisal.
2. Lack of Clear Performance Standards
You must establish crystal clear performance standards for the employee to meet. The employees must know the standards exactly. They must also know how their performance will be measured against them. Without clear performance standards you can't have truly effective appraisal.
3. "Behaviour" Gets In The Way
This is a very common trap. We forget about how well an employee has performed because he's "untidy" or she's "messy". Small incidents of slightly inadequate behaviour are magnified into major problems. A salesperson achieves 175% of budget but receives a poor appraisal because his or her paperwork's "a bit sloppy" or he or she's "outspoken". This sort of demotivating nonsense is all too common.
4. Forms Are Just A Record
"The person who spends most time on performance appraisal in our company is me, trying to get the forms filled in". The gentleman who said this was Head of Human Resources for a major multinational. His company was renowned for its appraisal scheme. If you use a performance appraisal form, make sure that measuring performance is far more important than filling out the form.
5. Opinions Endanger Good Appraisal
Don't let opinions interfere with appraisal. "The girls in dispatch tell me that you don't respect them". "The accounts people complain about the clarity of your expense claims". "I'm told you've been late for some appointments recently". All these statements are hearsay. And mostly, they're not about performance. Opinions aren't facts. Unless they're substantial and can be shown to have a negative influence on job performance, they have no place in performance appraisal.
6. Ignoring Team Effectiveness
All employees are members of at least one team. Most are members of more than one. Their performance will be a direct reflection of their effectiveness as a team member. Include team effectiveness when measuring performance.
7. Overlooking The Business
It seems incredible but lots of managers don't consider employee contribution to the business when assessing performance. An employee can appear to do well. But if what they do doesn't help make a positive contribution to business effectiveness and development, their contribution may not be particularly valuable. Use performance appraisal as an opportunity to remind employees that effective business contribution is essential.
8. Performance Muddling
This is another common trap. Performance appraisal is about measuring performance. But we decide to extend it. We use it as an opportunity to assess training needs, promotion prospects, undertake career counselling, decide on wage or salary increases and a whole lot of stuff, most of which has almost nothing to do with measuring performance. And these "muddles" often assume far greater importance than the performance measurement itself.
9. Ignoring The Future
Performance appraisal whether formal, informal or even casual is a great time to explain to employees what you expect of them in the future. We spend lots of time discussing past performance but too little setting the parameters for future performance. The past is history. It can't be undone. Concentrate on the future.
10. Missing Employee Input
Whether your appraisal is brief or lengthy it's a great time to get suggestion for improvement from employees. "What do you think?" is a question that should be asked frequently by managers during performance appraisal. It's a great opportunity to gain employee input. If you don't ask, you won't know.
Conclusion
Sound performance appraisal is essential in any business. But it's hard to do well when we, as managers, include so many obstacles to success. Form filling and intense interviews don't constitute performance appraisal. But absolutely unambiguous and measurable performance standards are the key. If you're serious about measuring employee performance, start there.
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