Self Evaluations and Self Assessment For Your Annual Performance Appraisal

As many of you actually dread this process of undertaking personal self evaluations of your work performance, let me show you how approaching your annual appraisal with a constructive attitude is vital to an effective and rewarding result for you.

Try to think of self evaluations as a chance for you to rate your skills and put forward a strong case upon which a salary increase or promotion may depend. It's not always easy to compliment yourself on the work you do, but, it can be a very important time to make sure your boss knows what you've done and how aware you are of your own strengths AND weaknesses. Please make sure you know what your boss is expecting from you and what specific topics your boss needs you to cover.
It is not a good idea to leave this self appraisal until the very last moment. Instead, make yourself prepare it a few days before your annual performance review, then leave it for a day or two before you re-read it. Hopefully, these general tips for writing your self evaluations will help you showcase your strengths and help you get promoted or receive the salary increase you deserve.
Self appraisals or self evaluations are where you, get to give opinions - preferably backed up by accomplishments - about your performance. You need to critically analyse your performance, strengths and weaknesses, accomplishments, problems you have encountered and any training needs you feel you may have.
What To Include In Your Self Evaluations
In order to gather the right information for your self evaluations of your on-the-job performance, I recommend that you include statements about these key areas:

• Your current job responsibilities (use your job description as a reference point);
• Your achievements;
• Your goals for the coming year;
• Areas in which you may improve;
• Training requirements you need for your present job;
• Additional responsibilities you are ready to add to your remit;
• Any problems you have encountered and solutions you have come up with;
• Continuing professional development (CPD);
• Areas of the job you like or dislike.

On this last point you should also be ready to explain what it is you like or dislike and have some ideas about improving or managing the parts you dislike more effectively.
Most self evaluations should be based on your organisation's competency framework which will include a range of competencies such as:

• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Results Focus
• Working in Teams
• Customer Service
• Adaptability/Flexibility
• Initiative
• Decision Making
• Leadership
• Managing Self

It is a positively good idea to quote actual examples and situations to support your self assessment of performance - the STAR routine of situation, task, action and result, typically used in competence based interviews, is a good basis for your self evaluations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6054717

Get Your Performance Appraisal Discussions Off to a Good Start (Part 1)

But a lot of the awkwardness in performance appraisal meetings can be eliminated by following some simple suggestions. Here are a couple of tips that will help put both players at ease. (In Part 2 of this article, I'll provide some additional suggestions.)

Gather Your Appraisal Information and Materials in Advance
The most important item you need to have is a copy of the individual's performance appraisal. That's obvious. But that's not all.
At the beginning of the year you and the individual probably had a performance planning meeting. Ideally, the individual would have taken notes on a blank copy of the appraisal form and made a copy for you. That document should have all of the key items that you discussed during the meeting. Be sure you have a copy of that planning document in case a question about the original goals comes up.
You'll also need information about the individual's performance, particularly if there are some areas where the performance varied significantly from your expectations. Whether the variation was in a positive or negative direction, you'll need to be able to demonstrate why you assigned the rating that you did. If the assessment is that the individual's performance was less than you desired, then it's critically important that you have all of the evidence you used in order to come to that "Unsatisfactory" or "Need Improvement" performance appraisal rating. There's a magic phrase to use here. That phrase is, "For example . . ." Make sure you've got plenty of examples that support a less-than-satisfactory evaluation.
You may want to have a copy of the individual's development plan. You may want to have copies of weekly reports that the individual submitted that described progress against the goals that were set. You can't make a mistake by having too much support material. It will prevent the embarrassment of being unable to find anything of substance to justify the rating you gave.
Make a List
What are the key points that you want to cover during the discussion? In addition to having a copy of the performance appraisal, write down a list of the most important items you want to discuss. It's easy to refer to them during the meeting to make sure that everything that needs to be discussed gets covered.
Pick an Appropriate Place
Probably most performance appraisal discussions take place in the manager's office, with the manager behind the desk and the appraisee sitting directly in front of it.
Is that the best place to hold the discussion? It may well be, particularly if the performance appraisal is not very good and the manager wants to trot out all of the power and authority available to make the subordinate understand that immediate change is necessary. But too often the authoritarian, boss-behind-the-desk arrangement serves to emphasize the power relationship at a time when a more collegial approach might be more effective.
More important than the actual location where the discussion ends up taking place is the decision-making process the manager engages in to determine that location. Too often, managers conduct the performance appraisal discussion behind their desks by default -- they haven't given any thought to the matter and just let it happen in the place where they are most comfortable.
There are several other alternatives possible. The manager's office might not offer complete privacy, particularly if walls are thin or it's a cubicle arrangement. In this case a conference room or the temporarily vacant office of an out-of town senior manager might be pressed into service. If the performance appraisal contains good news and the two participants in the appraisal drama are old colleagues, it might best be conducted over a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. And if it is conducted in the manager's office, just a little furniture rearrangement might reduce the hierarchical nature of the discussion.
If the performance appraisal does indeed contain bad news, and particularly if the manager believes that it will take a dramatic gesture to bring home the message of "Change or else!", the appraiser's boss's office might be a good location. Having your boss give you your performance appraisal in her boss's office -- with her boss sitting in as an observer / reinforcer -- certainly communicates the seriousness of the message being delivered.
But beware the unusual location. The district sales manager who gives one of her sales reps his annual performance appraisal while the two of them are in the car, driving down the highway on route to a new prospect's office, is exercising bad judgment. So too is any manager who selects a location significantly away from a business setting, unless the necessity for conducting the performance review at that time, in that location, is obvious to both players.
These are some small suggestions that will help to reduce the awkwardness that always seems to surround the performance appraisal discussion. In Part 2, I'll provide a couple more tips that will help put both players at ease.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/166929

Performance Appraisal Survival Guide

It is the time of the year when your performance appraisal is just round the corner. Appraisal is primarily done to evaluate your past performance and chart out your future course in the organization. Appraisals are typically done once a year in most companies. In some companies half yearly appraisals are held.

An objective appraisal professionally done benefits both you and the organization you work for. You get feedback on your performance, suggestions for improvement, training needs and goals for the coming year which are aligned to the overall organization strategy/ objectives. Basis your past accomplishments you could also get compensation hike.
Before you go for your appraisal interview and during the course of it there are a few things you can do to make the process effective. Making a list of all that you have accomplished in the last evaluation period is the first step. When you keep a tab of your achievements and projects completed during the course of the year it will be easy to consolidate them at the end. Any appreciation mails or thank you mails/ communication can be taken as evidence too.
During the actual performance appraisal interview it is important to be participative. Give a brief about what you have done, your aspirations and training needs. Be open to listen objectively - you are likely to get positive as well as negative feedback. You can make your point of view clear but without being defensive or offensive. Remaining confident through out the performance evaluation process helps to build a professional image about you. Last but not the least it is crucial to perform all tasks assigned to you on time, every time.
Delivering high quality work, taking ownership of tasks, leadership and assuming extra responsibilities are traits that will get you noticed and pave the way for better roles.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3092271

360 Degree Performance Appraisal - Major Controversies

One of the best techniques designed to improve effectiveness at work is the 360 degree performance appraisal technique. Generally, this method is considered a human resources device to analyze a company's human potential. Either easy or complicated, strategies are used to analyze employee's performance, competencies and skills. 360 degree feedback represent a confidential assessment any employee might receive based on the information his superiors or coworkers offer on a questionnaire starting point. 360 degree performance appraisal furthermore includes a technique which is called self-assessment. The answers are interpreted based on a scale and the result stands for the perception collaborators have on a certain member of staff. There are different opinions that support such assessment strategies or, on the opposite, underline the deficiencies they have. Check the following list and compare it with your opinion:

* strength and weakness analysis
As for this matter, 360 degree performance appraisal method is extremely helpful because it identifies the weak and strong points each member of staff has at his work place. So, each member of staff can see exactly what it has to improve in order to increase the effectiveness at work. The 360 degree performance appraisal technique also includes preparation.
* wide field of evaluation techniques
360 degree performance appraisal techniques are both usual and recent. The department who decides which technique must be implemented is the human resources one. In the traditional 360 degree performance appraisal, superiors are the ones who assess you. But this type of evaluation includes a high degree of subjectivity. One of recent strategies makes use of software applications particularly developed to help human resources department when they have to examine an extraordinary number of workers. When a company doesn't have a highly developed human resources department, they may outsource the service because there are enough qualified companies ready to be employed.
* benefits for big companies versus disadvantages for small ones
The 360 degree performance appraisal is rather effective for big firms which may set up their management politics based on the information such assessment strategies make. On the other hand, little firms might find this kind of evaluation methods too expensive or time consuming. The high degree of relevancy is exclusively for firms with an outstanding number of employees
* subjectivity versus objectivity
When we discuss on the 360 degree performance appraisal method we also talk about about subjectivity and objectivity. It is thought to have a high degree of subjectivity when superiors have to analyze their subordinates but the highest amount seems to be on the same level in the hierarchy. Rivalry between coworkers make this assessment not very objective. A good thing is the anonymity of these assessments.
The 360 degree performance appraisal is extremely important for firms and especially for managers.This method reflects how efficient are employees at work and how they are perceived by their colleagues. This is a very good method which is considered worthy of.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4491231

Performance Appraisal Form

This paper will guide you the process of evaluating employee's performance at work.

1. General Requirements
· Appraisal time: The appraisal shall be carried out on weekly basis at weekends. At the month end, the result will be summarized to give ranks to each employee.
· Appraisal method: The appraisal shall be carried out as form described herein and performed by the head of responsible department.
2. Employee's Details
· Name of Employee:
· Position:
· Department:
· Appraiser:
· Title:
3. Appraisal Rank
· A: 1 - 3 points: Poor
· B: 3 - 5 points: Weak
· C: 5 - 6.5 points: Average
· D: 6.5 - 8: Fair
· E: 8 - 10: Good
4. Appraisal Criteria
4.1. Quality of Work
· A: Not ensure the work quality as required for 3 times a month or more, or 1 - 2 times a month but cause serious loss to the company.
· B: Not ensure the work quality for 1- 2 times a month.
· C: Ensure the quality as required.
· D: Ensure a good quality and receive good feedback from customers and colleagues.
· E: Ensure the good quality of work that brings back high value to the company.
4.2. Completion time
· A: Overdue for 3 times a month or more, or 1 - 2 times a month but cause serious loss to the company.
· B: Overdue for 1 - 2 times a month
· C: Complete the work in due time.
· D: Complete the work before due date
· E: Complete the work before due which brings back high value to the company.
4.3. Innovation
· A: (Not assessed)
· B: (Not assessed)
· C: 5 points for minor innovation
· D: For innovation that can be valued of 1 million or more.
· E: For Innovation that can be value of 5 million or more.
4.4. Regulation Conformity
· A: 2 serious violations in a month
· B: 1 serious violation in a month. Or more than 2 non-serious violations in a month
· C: 1 non-serious violation in a month
· D: No violation
· E: No violation + Discover violation
5. Appraisal Form Design
The Appraisal Form includes the following basic columns:
· Number
· Appraisal Criteria
· Point
· Sum-up
· Coefficient (If any)
In addition to the basic columns, the evaluator can design more contents if appropriate.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5215472

Is This Any Way to Do Performance Appraisals?

In the August issue of HR Magazine, an article written by Paul Falcone was published entitled, "Big-Picture Performance Appraisal."

Mr. Falcone is an author specializing in human resource topics...
...but, I was taken aback by what he was proposing in this article about how to look at deciding on an individual's overall rating. He suggests that you go back to the old-school bell-curve concept.
He argues that each unit in the business should first rate itself on a 1 to 5 scale, with a 1 representing significantly under performing, a 3 performing at a 100% level, and a 5 representing significantly over performing. Let's say a given unit like sales rates its overall performance a 4.2, Falcone says that the overall average total score of all employees in the unit should also equal 4.2. That means if you rate some people over 4.2, you need to make sure others are rated below that number.
I guess the logic is that these two numbers only make sense if they are equal. This is bass ackwards to me--you're supposed to get overall performance from the bottom up not from the top down when it comes to rating an individual. In my mind, this doesn't reflect the actual performance of the individual.
If an individual's overall score is artificially restricted to their business unit's overall score, how is this fair to the individual? More importantly, how can management look at people in the same position across the company and do an accurate comparative analysis?
Another strange point in this article is that Falcone suggests every business unit and everyone should be striving to be rated a 5 overall! If a 3 is considered a 100% performance level, it would seem to me that most people would be striving to be that "A" employee or "A" business unit. Sure, it is possible that some employees sometimes perform above expectations, but rarely should the performance standards be set so that the employee consistently exceeds expectations for all performance measures.
If employees are rated 4's and 5's then they are not being challenged enough. I coach my clients to set the performance standards for each performance measure in a way that asks the employee to stretch even to be rated a 3. If an employee is consistently rated 4's and 5's, how to they get challenged to get to their next level?
Falcone also fixates on the overall score as the number to focus on when filling out the appraisal. Here's another area where I disagree with his thinking. Best practices says you look at each performance measure on its own and score it based on the performance standards for that measure.
At the end of the process an overall score is calculated using the weighted scores of each measure. I suggest you take that one step further...
...instead of showing the overall number on the 1 to 5 scale, you convert it to a %. Why do this?
Well, it's natural for everyone to want to be rated a 5 instead of a 3 since a 3 is half-way down the scale giving it a connotation of an "average" rating when in fact a 3 represents a 100%, or "A", performer.
By setting the right performance measures for each position and for each employee and rating them on these measures, you will be aligning your human capital to maximize your organization's performance. Don't back in to numbers set at the top. That's the only way you are really going to know how your employees are performing so you can use those results for organizational development, succession planning, and other human-capital related actions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/740673

What Are the Benefits of a Truthful Well Delivered Performance Appraisal?

Over ten years into my career in management, my boss gave me an appraisal that rocked my world. The benefits were many! Stronger business results, greater team efficiency, higher associate satisfaction, more collaborative peer relationships and greater opportunities for advancement, reward and recognition for all, to name a few!
 
In large part, his reasons for the lower rating were two-fold. I was viewed as a micro-manager by him and others and not as a team player by my peers. Hearing this was shocking, disappointing and alarming. I recall telling my boss that it was clear to me that I needed to leave the organization, if this is how I was viewed. He smiled and said he did not think so. I certainly had my doubts! I recall telling him I was afraid to change because "my current ways were what had brought me to the dance!"
 
So, why did my boss do this? He did it simply because it was the right thing to do, especially at a critical point in my career. Too often managers do not tell their people the truth for fear of hurting them or fear of losing them. I have learned this is selfish. It is always right to tell people what is in their best interest, for their good and for the good of the organization. My boss helped me to see that while my teams were producing very good results, my way of getting results was not going to take me far in the organization. Thankfully, he conveyed these important messages gracefully! 
 
Over time, following the appraisal meeting, I began to see more clearly the root cause of these two issues. It lay in simple but profound truths - I was afraid of making mistakes and their potential negative consequences. I was also competitive and very uncomfortable with peer interactions. I was not comfortable around my peers. I avoided them except when it was necessary to interact. This kept them from getting to know me. I was more concerned with avoiding mistakes in my operation, avoiding being influenced by my peers to try a "different way" than I was in establishing good peer relations. I clearly did not see the many benefits of good peer relations.

Through mentoring and coaching I began to see these perspectives and attitudes more clearly and began the long and steady process of taking steps to change and grow. Over time, my changes and growth were confirmed by my boss, by peers, my associates and others that had known me for a long time. I remember telling my boss a few years later how much I appreciated what he had done and how he had done it. He had tears of joy in his eyes.
 
Some of the specific changes included delegating more, trusting others more, accepting less than perfection, making the effort to reach out to peers and others and joining a group of like-minded individuals engaged in a similar journey for accountability.
 
What were some of the specific benefits of the changes?
 

• The results of my business units continued to be strong. I learned to delegate well and was pleasantly surprised and encouraged to observe that others have very good skills, potential and ideas, often better than mine! It was nice to stop doing my people's jobs, something my boss had pointed out in our review meeting.
• I learned that mistakes did not increase and when they did occur, it was not the end of the world! I also learned that much of the time I had been spending making a report or something else perfect was wasted as it became clear that most of what we were producing was getting the job done well at it was!
• Associate satisfaction increased as their skills, confidence, and opportunities for advancement increased.
• Peers began to comment that to their surprise I was a nice guy after all! Interactions with them became easier, friendlier, and more often than not, win-win oriented, and not what I had feared.
• I continued to be promoted and grow in responsibilities my total compensation continued to grow. The changes accelerated my effectiveness in new roles delivering results faster helping avoid the pitfalls that can derail leaders in transition.
• The changes also helped me increase the speed of integration into a new leadership team with a new company cutting my learning curve, building early loyalty and longevity and ensuring critical business success factors were addressed early on.
• The changes equipped me to help others including high performers learn similar new behaviors and be assimilated in order to achieve the personal and professional rewards they are seeking.

So, change is possible and worth it! Try it and you will be please you did!
 
Are you in the middle of a similar need for change? Does one of your leaders have a similar need? You can help yourself or your leader change successfully. You and your associate can experience the same benefits of changing! You will increase results, create more opportunities for professional advancement and experience a higher quality of life!

If you would like a free Executive Management Assessment with me to discuss how I can help you achieve the greatest success possible, please call me or email me and we'll get clear about the best immediate next steps for the success of you and your team.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1974007

Executive Coaching on Performance Appraisals - 5 Actions For Leaders

As an executive, you are doing due diligence in your organization development plans when you provide consistent feedback to your employees. Furthermore, the "coaching moments" arise when your associates fall outside of acceptable performance norms. Odds are that if you've done the performance review process correctly, your associates typically reside more frequently "outside" of the norms than "inside" them. If that's the case, then are performance appraisals a worthwhile venture when it comes to assisting you and your company in accomplishing your coaching organization development goals?

According to perhaps the greatest quality expert of all time, W. Edwards Deming believed that performance appraisal systems and formats were flawed and inaccurate! These flaws and inaccuracies were due primarily to false assumptions and too much subjectivity on the part of the reviewer. Deming used to say that these performance appraisals were just one of the seven deadly sins of management!
What were Deming's reasons for viewing performance appraisals as flawed? Among them were:

• Appraisals stimulate short-term performance and deflect attention from long-term planning.
• Reviews often leave those receiving the review bitter, desolate, feeling inferior and unfit for work, often times afraid to offer a differing opinion than the group for fear of being labeled a dissenter.
• Appraisals undercut teamwork because they inherently grow rivalry, politics and fear. The individual is being reviewed, not the team, and therefore attempts to put their "best foot forward" aren't attempted.
• Reviews focus on the end result, or product, and not the individual's leadership abilities along the way.
• The measures used to evaluate performance are often not meaningful, because both leader and subordinate are often times forced to "check a box" to satisfy the review process.
• Reviews discourage quality... Quantity is stressed over quality!

So just what should the leader do based on Deming's distaste for performance appraisals? The following five action steps should be implemented for better results:

1. Eye on the Prize - Focus on the long-term goals of the individual/team/department/organization. Focusing on short-term throughput can lead to long-term problems if the proper focus isn't taken. Think "long term" for greater success.
2. Don't Take It Personally - Keep personalities out of performance reviews. The metrics which a leader should measure an individual's performance should not include their personality defects. We've all got a defect of personality, as the leader are you willing to look yourself in the mirror and have your defects discussed?
3. There's No "I" In Team - Make certain that performance is evaluated regarding ones team efforts, in addition to their own individual efforts. Also important to note is ensuring that their compensation plan also takes team efforts into consideration.
4. Smell The Roses Along The Way - Performance appraisals are often done annually, with the file going in the drawer and dusted off around day 364 almost in the next year. Unfortunately, if you want better results you'll need to review the appraisal more frequently. Establish quarterly (monthly?) review plans with your team for maximum effectiveness.
5. Get Perspective - Often times the leader is too close to the situation to effectively monitor/measure. Seek an external party to perform the evaluation to ensure that what you're measuring is correct, and that you are on the right course.

Love them or hate them, executive coaching regarding performance appraisals are here to stay! When done properly, executives can count on their team to outperform their established goals. These five actions should lead you towards future success... make that you and your team!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3612194

The "2 Flat Tires" of the Typical Performance Appraisal

I use Google Alerts to search the web and send me articles about performance evaluations. Nearly every day I receive an article or blog entitled something like "How to Conduct an Effective Appraisal Meeting." It usually starts out with a sentence explaining how everyone dislikes conducting an appraisal but if the reader will only follow the author's advice everything will work great. The author then typically goes on to describe his or her "secret solutions" for making the appraisal meeting effective. These articles are a complete waste of time because the typical appraisal process has systemic flaws already built into it.

One could write an article about "how to effectively drive a car that has two flat tires" but no one would read it because why would anyone want to do that? No one wants to conduct a typical performance appraisal meeting either mostly because it also has "two flat tires" (metaphorically speaking). These two flaws include the grade given to the employee by the manager about his or her performance and the pay-for-performance policy tied to that grade. Giving advice about how to conduct a meeting that is systemically flawed, like the typical performance appraisal, makes as much sense as learning how to drive a car with two flat tires.
It is one of my missions in life to teach every leader on earth how to replace the typical appraisal process with one consistent with systems thinking. The typical appraisal is ineffectual and damaging.
The typical appraisal is inconsistent with systems thinking. This makes it impossible for it to ever predictably improve organizational performance. The process itself must be completely re-designed removing the rating of the employee (flat tire #1) and separating pay decisions (flat tire #2). Regardless of what professional managers like Jack Welch say, these two "flat tires" make the typical appraisal ineffectual.
A new client told me how he nearly quit his new job twice in the past month. Furthermore, in that same time frame, he had talked two of his colleagues "off the quitting ledge" as well. It seems his sales department is under tremendous pressure to perform by meeting a nearly impossible stretch sales goal. The boss was referred to by the sales people as "Captain Bligh" behind his back. "Captain Bligh" set a very high end-of-year performance goal for the entire team. He translated this end-of-year goal into a weekly sales target for each sales person and then calculated the number of "weekly sales appointments with presentations" each salesperson needed to deliver to meet that revenue goal.
Each week "Captain Bligh" would swoop into the office, review the sales performance and the number of appointments for each sales person. He would loudly remind everyone of the goal and chastise those who were behind (in either or both the number of presentations and sales closed). He would remind them all that their bonus would be determined by their total performance and their performance appraisal rating would be determined by their weekly performance and then swoop back out.
These sales people are extremely talented, had been recruited from a list of top talent from the competition, were all highly compensated (high six figures) and yet were treated like children who needed to be threatened and prodded to "clean their rooms" and "eat their vegetables" or go without dinner. This management style makes performance worse because it creates negative anxiety which reduces creative problem solving and it takes the focus off the real issues which relate to how the overall sales and marketing process is working. By focusing on the individual performance of each sales person "Captain Bligh" was actually making performance worse by damaging motivation and increasing variation in the sales process. He was flattening two of the tires on the sales force but expecting them to go at higher speeds.
Managers who use pay for performance and performance appraisal ratings to motivate people are making serious mistakes. These two techniques are an attempt to control behaviors and control techniques with educated talent slows them down.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7332810

Don't Worry It's Not You: Why Performance Appraisals Will Never Work

Most managers and employee agree that performance appraisals don't really work very well. They don't fulfill their intended purposes. Even Human Resource professionals acknowledge they fail at least ½ the time. Considering they are the most common management tool for improving organizational performance, if I was an HR professional I might have trouble sleeping knowing they fail half the time. But, we all know HR professionals sleep just fine because when performance appraisals fail they conveniently put the blame on a manager's inability to carry out the process.

There are three claims HR professionals make against the manager. The first claim usually is the managers need more training. They claim the process is being sabotaged because the manager is incompetent and therefore the process is often completed late not done or done poorly. Secondly they blame the manager for making result of the annual appraisal a surprise instead of delivering valuable feedback consistently and frequently all during the year. If there is a problem then managers should discuss it immediately and not wait. Finally managers are accused of being too biased in their assessment of employee performance. The employee can detect this bias and claims a lack of fairness.
Unfortunately blaming the manager for the failure of the performance appraisal process is like blaming a driver for the poor performance of a car with two flat tires. It's not the driver. HR professionals are unaware of the design flaws in performance appraisals and so they find it convenient to just blame the "driver." The irony is the design flaws are frequently built into the process by HR. They design the flaws into the process. They watch the managers fail. They blame the managers. If it wasn't so tragic it might make a good Seinfeld episode.
There are two important design flaws (the flat tires) in the appraisal that make it impossible to "drive" performance. First, it assumes individual performance can be measured in a complex system. It can't. Second, it creates a "judge and judged" relationship. This relationship damages trust but trust is a key ingredient for performance and quality improvement.
Individual performance in a complex system cannot be measured. Individual performance can be expressed in the following formula:
X + XY = Individual Performance Measured
If X is the individual contribution (job performance) and Y represents the factors that impact the individual in his/her job then XY is the measure of the impact the system has on the individual. There is a problem. We have two variables but only one equation. The equation is therefore not solvable yet managers are asked to solve it in preparation for a performance appraisal meeting. Asking managers to solve this unsolvable problem causes frustration and psychosis. This might be one reason why managers procrastinate or do a poor job justifying the grade they assign the employee.
The manager is the judge and the employee is the judged. As long as the manager is judging performance there can't be optimum trust. One of the most important needs of employees is to be treated with respect and fairness. When they are judged it increases the probability of disappointment. It also puts tremendous pressure on the manager to pretend to be omniscient (all knowing). This expectation of omniscience can also create a psychotic reaction.
Blaming the manager for the results that come from design flaws is not just incorrect; it creates a psychosis which manifests waste in ways that often cannot be measured. The next time HR tells you your employee complained about his/her performance appraisal remind them of the design flaws. Tell them it's not you. I am sure they will understand.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7250079

Performance Appraisals For Even The Smallest Businesses

Every large corporation has established procedures for periodic performance reviews for its employees. But do only large companies require such protocols? Employee reviews are a vital tool for compensation, promotion, and coaching that even the smallest business can use to its advantage.

Even if you only have two employees and one of them is your brother-in-law, you can use periodic performance reviews to strengthen your organization. The need for equity and accountability exists in every company, large and small. Large companies use appraisals to manage a workforce that by virtue of its size requires standardized formats for setting pay rates and employee status. Though, large organizations have the tools in place, they frequently overlook appraisals as a coaching tool. But in a small company, the value of performance reviews as a coaching instrument can be the difference between a stagnant and developing workforce.
The key thing to remember is to keep your review format objective and standardized. Too many times employee evaluations become the province of opinion and assumption. Before undertaking the review process sit down and examine every position in your company. Look at the required tasks, expertise, and experience it takes to complete every function of a given job. This examination can be time consuming and tedious, but a thoughtful examination can standardize each job in a way that will remain constant, no matter who performs that job. These examinations will result in a thorough and objective job description that is essential for your business as it grows. The operative theme here is to describe the position, not who currently fills the position. The job description must be neutral to the personality and background of its present holder.
Once an exhaustive job description is completed, the appraisal process moves to valuing each element of the job. Which functions are primary and which functions follow from those initial efforts? How much cooperation from others is required? Weigh each function according to its importance to complete assigned tasks and develop a quantitative form that is specific to the job. Give each item a range of value from Exceeds Expectations to Requires Improvement. The stages of value will depend on your own formula for competence.
Now you have the seeds of a system that is tailored to your business. Having an objective and fair program in place is essential and will allow you to set compensation rates that you can use when you promote your brother-in-law and hire the college student down the street. But compensation is only one factor in the equation. What about using this appraisal system to guide the development of your employees?
In evaluating personnel look at areas that you have identified as "Needing Improvement" or "Below Expectations." These comments are more useful as coaching tools because they have an objective base. They are not personal opinion or assumptions and can be presented as your way to guide employees to areas of weakness. This is also a valuable time to offer training and development opportunities to your workers. Simply identifying areas of deficiency is pointless unless there is a solution extended to change these areas of weakness to ones of strength. This takes the punitive element out of the performance appraisal process. It will build a bond between employer and employee when presented in the context of coaching rather than criticism. It can allow you to set and achieve common goals.
Even the smallest business needs objective standards because you might be small now but you won't always be small. Be prepared for growth and have systems in place that will grow with you. Your employee base will not always consist of your extended family and future workers will have expectations of fairness and equity that do not depend to relationships. A sound performance appraisal system is a necessity for your small business as it evolves into larger and sometimes more wieldy concern. Be ready for the success you are destined for and meet it with a system tailored for your small business but still custom made for your big business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/547224

Performance Appraisals in Corporates

A performance appraisal is the process of assessing the performance of an employee within a given time period by a Manager or supervisor. It helps in measuring the exact performance of the employee, his strengths and weaknesses and the required improvements.

The Manager or supervisor who is going to perform appraisal should be well aware of the working conditions of the organization, organizational goals and the employees whose performance needs to be reviewed. New managers should not be given this task. Every company has a set of norms and conditions which should be followed. The person who is going to do Performance Appraisal should know the rules and regulations. He should bear in mind that it is being done for improving the performance of employees and in turn the overall performance of the organization. Individual data of employees is collected over a period of one year. Employees performance is reviewed every two to three months. The supervisor talks to the employees and lets him know how close he is to his goal and in what areas he needs improvements. Training sessions are conducted for employees who lack some knowledge or for those whose performances are not up to the mark.
Managers asks various questions to the employees for reviewing their performance. They should try to keep the employee cool and calm and conduct a bit informal meeting rather than a formal one. Until and unless the employee opens up its useless performing an appraisal and expecting him to better his performance. Managers should try and find out reasons for employees bad performance. Merely reviewing a problem will not help but the problem needs to be addressed at the grass root level or its useless. Employees performance can change over a period of time so past data should be reviewed but should not be given much consideration.
The most effective appraisal system is 360 degrees approach in which data is collected from employees himself, his peers, customers and seniors. This is the best method because when everyone reviews a persons performance we get an appropriate figure for calculation and the spectrum for review increases. Managers should review the performance and give feed backs. The feedback should not be negative. It should be positive and encouraging. The reason behind appraisal is to enhance the performance of an employee and not to lower his morale. Managers should consider every point from the start and not a particular negative behavior or incident while writing review. He should also not hold any personal grudges with the employee. He should give an unbiased report concentrating totally on an employees overall performance in the organization.
Performance appraisal is carried out so that an employee works with full devotion and is committed to his work. He does not shows a laid back attitude and get irregular. It should increase employees efficiency and his commitment towards work. Regular review of performance is very useful because it makes the organization aware of employees who are poor or non performers and are not improving. These employees need to be fired or should not be given a pay hike. Good performers move up the ladder and acquire respectable positions in the organization thus leading to the profitability in the long run.
Performance Appraisal is very important aspect for reviewing. Nowadays almost each and every company follows it.

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Managing the Performance Appraisal Process in Your Company

I was reading the WelchWay a column that Jack and Suzy Welch coauthor for Business Week. They were writing on Emotional Mismanagement. In the column they opined that a manager doesn't have the right to call themselves a manager if they are not regularly telling their people what they are doing well, and how they need to improve.

A sentiment I agree with. However, the performance appraisal process continues to be an area that many managers still find difficult to handle. I agree with the Welch's. Managers shouldn't consider themselves managers unless they master the art of the performance appraisal. You just have to take some time to plan what it is you are going to discuss with your subordinate. Here is simple process that if followed can help with the performance appraisal process for both the experienced and newly appointed manager.
Respect, for the person you are meeting with. This means you take the time to prepare. You prepare by totally familiarizing yourself with the written review. This means being prepared to point out the good, the bad, and what needs improvement aspects of this review. Remember, your goal here is to give honest feedback to this employee. This employee needs to know what and how they are to improve. They may not like hearing it but for them to get better, getting honest and constructive feedback is important to their growth.
Empathy for the employee you're reviewing. I'm not talking about empathy in the context of feeling sorry for the person. But referring to understanding of what the performance appraisal process means to them and how important it is to them economically. The results of this review have a lasting impact on both their short and long term economic viability. How you rate this employee often determines salary increase, promotion opportunity, or selection for a special training program. Again, the empathy referred to here is understanding that straight up honest feedback on their performance is very important and any ambiguity or subjective discussion in reference to their work can and will be confusing, not to mention giving them mixed messages.
Valid, feedback is necessary if the subordinate is to advance or improve. When you are discussing what was expected versus what was actually done you must be sure its valid criticism. Don't make it personal. When pointing out expectations and goals missed, be sure you have you facts in order and you can support it with valid examples that will help the employee learn so they don't repeat the same mistakes. Keep in mind you're not trying to be vindictive you want to point out to your employee what they missed and how they can improve on their performance moving forward. The purpose of the appraisal is to discuss the aspects of the job that went well and those that need improvement. If you are spending all your time on all the things that went wrong, you're not doing an appraisal, you're getting ready to terminate the employee.
Inform them what they can expect in the line of new assignments, and how you expect them to handle them. If you have kept, your employees informed on their progress or lack there of, there would be no surprises when it comes time for the performance appraisal.
Explain everything that requires explanation. Give them all the data and information necessary for them to complete the assignment. Don't hold back information. By relaying all data pertinent to the project allows them to understand the task at hand as well as, affords them the opportunity to get creative and think outside the box.
Work at it. As the manager you have to work on you skill in giving feedback during the performance appraisal process. This is not easy and for many of you it's down right hard. But if you're going to get the most out of your people you will have to be forthright with them. You will have to tell them when they are screwing up and they need to correct the situation immediately. You also have to let them know when they are on top of it and doing well. Praise is easy, discipline isn't. But here is the secret, if you communicate consistently with your people, and honest with the feedback that you give there will be no surprises on their performance appraisal.
As a manager, you have people to work with, becoming effective at the performance appraisal process is just one of several steps in getting better at managing your people and their feelings.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1444099

Performance Appraisal Process Improves Business Performance

An effective performance appraisal system is a cornerstone of successful business development. It is one of the best human resource solutions, which will help to align your team member's activities with overall business goals and objectives. A formal appraisal system consisting of a position description listing key result areas and expected behaviour (critical competencies) will help managers to develop and get the best from team members.

A system which measures the same criteria mentioned in the position description, will help to provide a fair and equitable measurement method. The performance appraisal should include a self-appraisal, action plan and learning development plan. The following procedure will assist managers to confidently perform an effective performance review and help develop their employees and business.
1. Gather appraisal information
- Recall regular performance review outcomes
- Obtain job description
- Gather information from action/development plan
- Identify Key Result Areas and Competencies to measure
- Modify appraisal forms to include what is measured
2. Complete the forms
- Team member to complete all self appraisal forms
- Rate Key Result Areas and Critical Competencies
- Manager to complete all appraisal forms
- Manager to determine overall performance rating
- Complete action and development plan
3. Conduct appraisal interview
- Set date, time and venue with no interruptions
- Encourage open and honest discussion
- Have team member talk about their self appraisal
- Give specific feedback
- Discuss Key Result Area feedback with team member
- Discuss Critical Competencies with team member
- Discuss achievements/development opportunities
- Finalise, distribute and gain commitment
- Review job description for next periods appraisal
4. Follow up meeting
- Check outcomes since performance appraisal
- Check progress of learning and development plan
- Identify commitment of team member to improve
- Take appropriate action
Businesses that see performance appraisals as a strategic method to develop employees, benefit because the added competence further develops the organisations capability, competitiveness and sustainability.
Being well prepared will help ensure its success, remembering if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

David McGillivray is a Human Resource Management consultant with over 20 years of management experience in small, medium and large organisations. He has considerable knowledge in strategic, operational and compliance HRM.
In 2002 David established Successful Business Strategies and is enjoying guiding company owners, managers and employees to excellent results. David contributes a wealth of knowledge that helps to align an organisation's vision and systems with its people, so that each is working toward the same objectives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2987502

Performance Appraisal Phrases

Performance appraisal phrases also called performance review phrases, performance evaluation phrases.

You can ref Phrases or Comments for Performance appraisal as follows:
I/ Performance Appraisal Phrases on Group work Skill
To a company of which operations are divided into many phases, or in a job requiring many persons working, or to a person who has to do many tasks at the same time, cooperation ability or group work skill is highly appreciated.
1. Appraisal Phrases on Good group work skill
· Frank encourages his team to develop a team-centered working environment.
· Jenny is very successful as a team member.
· William 's group work skill is very valuable. He can get through well with other teams and divisions of the company.
· Bella keeps individual employees working together as a whole to reach the ultimate goals and be effective in team working.
· Greg is good at keeping his team members focus on the ultimate goal.
· Ben keeps himself as the bridge connecting other team members to get the job done.
· Jill is very cooperative at work.
2. Appraisal Phrase on Poor group work skill
· Fred doesn't recognize the workplace as a "group working" environment; instead, he'd like to work alone.
· Jim is not for a team-centered working environment.
· Ben cannot keep his team align to the goals of organization.
· Harry is not willing to work together with other people.
· Kyle tends to keep important information away from his colleagues as he wants to be the only who can perform the task.
· Danny can be good at individual tasks; he is, however, not the person of group work or a team player.
· John can perform his job alone easily, but when someone comes to work with him, it becomes hard for him to give a good performance.
· Janet fails to be an effective member of group. She needs to take it seriously and spends more effort improving her teamwork skill in the next several months.
II/ Performance Appraisal Phrases on Creativity
Creativity is required for many jobs such as marketing, copywriter, R&D, advertising, etc. Therefore, the following performance appraisal phrases shall be useful in describing this ability of your employees
1. Positive Creativity Appraisal Phrases
· Yolanda always seeks to try new ideas and apply them to improve the efficiency at work.
· Walter knows how to create an interesting working environment for his team, which encourages new ideas and individual creativity.
· "We've always done it this way" is never the answer to a problem to Peter. Instead, he seeks to consider different options until he finds the most effective one.
· Harry encourages the way of free-thinking and is very interested in new innovations.
· Paul in an expert in extracting brilliant ideas out of his employees which, in the view of others, are not usually considered creative.
· Fred is so creative that he seeks solution to any problem from all aspects.
· When we're under too much pressure and in a desperate situation, we know that we can count on Jenny for such a brilliant idea that may help fix that situation.
· Emily is a creative woman. Such talent of hers should be applied more to her job in the company.
2. Negative Creativity Appraisal Phrases
· Creative solution is not something that Rachel encourages within her team.
· It's difficult for Kevin to brainstorm and come up with new ideas and solutions.
· Jim may be creativity; however, he tends to act before thinking and this is problematic in some cases.
· Reality has its appropriate time and place. Unfortunately, Wendy doesn't know such time and place. She seems to insist on a practical and stationary opinion without turning to some innovation.
· Frank seems to be a matter-of-fact manager. However, it should be much better if he thinks more creative and look at thing more freely.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6089803

Does Your Company Struggle With Performance Appraisals?

Do you do your performance reviews? Do you stress for weeks ahead of time, avoid, procrastinate and just put it off? Performance appraisals and reviews are one of the biggest stressors for managers and leaders. They get put off, not done at all or ignored. Some companies don't even use them at all, failing to see their value in performance improvement, while other companies do them but with negative impacts on their employees.

For many companies performance appraisals are the tool that use to fire or terminate employees. With the rising cost of turnover to the company you really cannot afford to fire people that you have invested in. Of course, sometimes that is the only option and that is true, but often it is not the best option because the employee can participate in an effective performance improvement program and become one of your BEST employees.
Performance appraisals are usually the leader or manager telling an employee what they did well and what they didn't do well. The employee dreads this as does the manager. Telling people that they are not doing well in their job is hard work and uncomfortable for all.
It is time to change your paradigm about the performance appraisal and perhaps even shift how and why you do them. What if you took that appraisal and instead of it being the once a year time when you delivered bad news you shifted it to be a positive plan for performance improvement? What do you think would happen to employees; to your company productivity and results? And how would the manager's experience change? Perhaps they would focus more on the performance improvement plan.
The Performance Improvement Paradigm suggests that you shift performance appraisals to performance improvement plans. There is still room for feedback and room to improve in areas where there needs to be improvement. The big paradigm shift is in the approach. The Performance Improvement System takes you to a positive planning process, teaches coaching skills to managers and tracks goals throughout the year. Through monthly Gold Time meetings employees are able to discuss with their "coach" and manager what is going well, what is still not going well and the road blocks to success. When managers learn to coach staff through the barriers and road blocks then performance can continue to shift and improve.
The Performance Improvement Plan is conducted in employee groups with an outside facilitator that takes the burden off of managers and leaders. Their role is to provide input into areas of focus and need, but the employee and facilitator create the actual plan. By teaching coaching skills to managers, employees begin to benefit from a positive coaching approach. Coaching skills and a performance tracking give the manager tools that they can use to help employees to stay on track. By shifting to a positive framework, employees see that the company is interested in them beyond their work performance because the planning can also include their personal goals. As a manager, when you know your employees personal and career goals, you are in a position to support them in their goals. This positive strategy results in better work performance, company loyalty and overall company results improve.
The performance improvement system is implemented in conjunction with the overall company vision and strategic plan. It brings the entire company into the fold of working in a focused and performance based way. Tracking goals and providing regular feedback and coaching accelerates results for individuals, teams and the company. Having employee performance improvement plans that each tie to the overall strategy of the company; increases the results that the company can achieve. No longer are employees working on non-essential tasks that don't better the company's vision.
By shifting to a positive performance improvement focused appraisal instead of a punitive appraisal system shifts the entire outlook of the team and workforce. Positive outcomes are numerous and turnover costs reduced. So in addition to increased performance results the company saves money in turnover, retraining, rehiring etc. The company has created a positive energy that runs throughout the entire workforce. The shift is vibrating results throughout and the overall company vision comes to life for the entire company instead of just the leaders.

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Phrases For Performance Appraisals - What Are They?

Performance appraisals are very useful tool to determine how effective an employee is at work. These appraisals usually happen once a year, but in recent times, companies have been putting into effect evaluations every three months or six months. As such, the need to interact with the staff more becomes even more necessary. While this may be a very taxing job for a manager, it would lend a more credible evaluation of the employees. This means that the appraisal will paint a more accurate picture of the performance of the employee.

The interaction part is just part of the entire appraisal process. What's even more dreadful at times is the actual writing of the appraisal. With a handful of employees, this should not be a problem, but more than five can be a daunting task. Managers make the mistake of making the appraisal a little too generic, and as such, it becomes inaccurate. The problem is not so much of lack of interaction with the employees, but more of difficulty in writing the appraisal report. In situations like this, managers need to know the phrases for performance appraisals.
There is a huge list of phrases to use to evaluate the employees and if managers are familiar with even just half of them, they can end up writing some of the most effective and accurate performance appraisals. While the list of phrases is long, they share several characteristics - specific, behavior-centred, objective, and performance-focused, among other things.
Writing a very general appraisal report can be detrimental to the organization in general, and to the employee in particular. This is because the evaluation is not able to capture the actual performance of the employee. This will not sit well with the employee in question and may even be disputed. The last thing that managers need is to have the issue escalated to the upper management, hence, defeating the purpose of the entire evaluation process.
This problem can be avoided if managers use effective phrases for performance appraisals. We already know what these phrases have in common, now we get to the specifics. These phrases are as specific as they come and do not focus on the character, but rather on the behavior of the employee as he or she goes on to do her daily tasks and functions.
An example of an appraisal is: "(Name of employee) failed to complete five of the six projects in the agreed due date, which resulted in a $1000 loss to the department". In this situation, the employee will be made aware of his or her weaknesses and strengths. With specific situations being mentioned, it would be much easier to have the facts checked by other parties.
Performance appraisal becomes effective when there is less subjectivity in the words and phrases used. A specific evaluation avoids possible disputes and can even help the organization re-define job functions and criteria for evaluation. This also helps adjust and manage expectations so that employees do not end up failing in criteria deemed to be immeasurable or unreachable.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2875526

Performance Appraisal Training

After the performance of an employee is appraised, the superior should inform the employee about the level of the employee's performance, the reason for the need for improvement of performance, and the methods of this improvement. The superior should counsel the employee about his performance and the methods of improving it.

Counseling is a planned, systematic intervention in the life of an individual who is capable of choosing the goal and the direction of his own development. Thus the purpose of counseling is to help the employee to be aware of his own performance, his strengths and weaknesses, opportunities available for performance development, and the threats in the form of technological change. Performance counseling can be done in the form of performance interview by the superior.
The post-appraisal interview has been considered by most of the organizations, as well as employees, as the most essential part of any appraisal system. This interview provides the employee the feedback information. It also gives the appraiser an opportunity to explain to the employee his rating, as well as the traits and behavior he has taken into consideration for appraisal.
It also gives the opportunity to the employee to explain his views about the rates, standards or goals, rating scale, internal and external environment, or causes for a low level of performance. Further it helps both the parties to review standards, set new standards based on the reality factors, and helps the appraiser to offer suggestions coach the employee through his advancement.
Thus the post-appraisal interview is designed to achieve certain objectives. The first objective is to let employees know where they stand. The second objective is to help employees do a better job by clarifying what is expected of them. The third objective is to plan opportunities for development and growth. The fourth is to strengthen the superior- subordinate working relationships by developing a mutual agreement of goals. Last but not least, the post-appraisal interview provides an opportunity for employees to express themselves on performance-related issues.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/193133

PHR SPHR Certification and the Employee Performance Appraisal

Candidates that hold PHR or SPHR certifications have proven the highest level of HR achievement in their field. There is a common HR body of knowledge that is developed by the Society of Human Resources and is tested on the exam. If you plan on sitting for the Professional in Human Resources examination you should have at least 2 to 4 years of professional work experience. Candidates sitting for the Senior Professional in Human Resources exam are required to have a minimum of 6 to 8 years of professional Human Resources experience in which the majority of their working time is spend on HR functions. The topic of management and employee performance appraisals is often tested on the exam and you should be aware of the topic and its function in HR. Instead of performance appraisal, organizations can seek improvement from a much broader spectrum. Performance appraisal is a by-product of a management philosophy that emerged in the late 1950s: Management-By-Objective (MBO). This variation of a machine model was based on the idea of assigning employees numerical targets that matched overriding objectives determined by the organization. Individual performance was measured by the employee's success in meeting these various targets, most of which were quantitatively measured. An annual review rated employees on their success or failure in meeting a number of these precisely defined targets.

By the 1980s, the efficacy of MBO and performance appraisals was in question. Many organizations recognized that the MOB-driven appraisal had failed to deliver its promised success, despite years of trying to improve the process. The MBO appraisal failed as a motivator because people were resistant to and dissatisfied with the process and because both supervisors and employees commonly manipulated the data and the supposed objective evidence to ensure desired ratings and compensation outcomes By the 1990s, organizations had dropped the MBO, but didn't drop the performance appraisals. Believing that appraisal was useful or necessary, organizations continued the annual ritual, in most cases because they didn't know what to do instead. Performance appraisals send messages of distrust, and they suppress the human spirit. Instead of motivating people, they reduce employees to dependent, de-motivated people, who are treated as though they need to be prodded and psyched to put forth their best efforts.
While performance appraisals may have been intended to weed out poor performers, they actually insulted everyone across the board. More than a dozen leading business authors, scholars and consultants have condemned and discouraged the use of performance appraisals, including Peter Block, Philip Crosby, Steven Covey, and the late W. Edwards Deming. Covey calls performance appraisals the bloodletting of today's management. Instead, he urges managers to develop win-win agreements with their employees over performance issues. An unintended consequence of Covey's suggestion is that some employers have simply applied his suggestion to the performance model, placing elaborate performance agreement documents in the personnel file, rather than encouraging, on a personal level, the development of win-win understandings based on trust and communication within a relational context, as Covey counsels.
Deming encouraged all managers to have a spontaneous, unplanned and unhurried three-to-four-hour conversation with each of their employees at least once a year, with the primary goal of listening. These conversations would not be for criticism or performance feedback but to take a broader view of the work and for help and understanding on the part of everybody.
Alternatives to performance appraisal will include these ideas:
An organization, because it is a system, can't be significantly improved by focusing on individuals. Choices of commitment and responsibility must be left to individuals if they are to be meaningful and effective. Less structure and control over the individual employee often will result in greater motivation and productivity. Employees can't be motivated to perform their best, but conditions of openness and trust can unleash intrinsic motivation, spirit and heart-felt commitment to organizational goals. Improving the overall system of the organization yields better results than trying to get employees to improve their individual performance. Organizations can survive and grow only if they are freely evolving systems, where variation, differentiation and diversity are valued as pathways to innovation and improvement.

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How To Conduct A Successful Performance Appraisal

Most organisations review the performance of their employees on a regular basis, usually annually. The term appraisal however, is disliked by many, conjuring up images of a superior passing judgement in a god like fashion. The answer must be to establish good relationships between both.

Every manager has to appraise subordinates and the mechanics of it vary from ticking little boxes, through marking on five-point scales, to writing an open ended report. These notes however, are mainly concerned with relationships.
The primary purpose of an appraisal is to help the subordinate.
Reasons for an Appraisal:
- To provide feedback of individual performance.
- To plan for future promotions and successions.
- To assess training and development needs.
- To provide information for salary planning and special awards.
- To contribute to corporate career planning.
The three main principles for appraisal and counselling interviews:
1. Everything written should be shown and shared
- Secrecy breeds suspicion
- Suspicion destroys a counselling relationship
Two specific aspects often withheld are those relating to: -
a) Poor performance
b) Potential promotion.
In the first the secrecy reflects the manager's own anxiety, telling someone they are doing badly is not easy.
The second, promotion, is difficult as telling the subordinate of potential promotion is very likely to be interpreted as definite, with keen disappointment if it does not happen.
If there is something a manager feels they cannot communicate to a subordinate then that is probably a good enough reason to exclude it from the appraisal report.
2. The Appraisal report should be finalised in the presence of the subordinate
- All fair and above board.
3. The subordinate should contribute a major part to the appraisal
- Self-appraisal is particularly effective in two areas.
Attitudes In Relation To Performance:
First, the area of weak performance, most individuals will be surprisingly open and honest about themselves if the appraisal or counselling is a supportive relationship.
Analyse rather than criticise.
Secondly, the area of career progression; managers tend to see a subordinate's future in terms of the other people in the department and how, particularly, the manager's own progression developed.
Giving the subordinate the chance to talk may reveal totally different aspirations.
Emotion:
There is always an element of emotion in appraisal interviewing. Both manager and subordinate each have positive and negative feelings and appreciating what they are can help understanding.
The Manager:
Positive feelings: -
- Wants to be helpful and understanding, but may be inclined to offer
advice too closely related to their own experience. Needs to
remember the subordinate is an individual in their own right.
- Wants to be kind and tolerant and liked by their staff. However, they must be prepared to point out the realities of any situation.
Negative feelings: -
- May be fearful of the interview itself and whether they may make a
mess of it. These fears diminish with practice.
- Fear of the interview becoming emotional and perhaps creating hostility in the subordinate. This is overcome by developing relationships where expression
of feelings is normal.
- May have feelings of envy i.e. the subordinate's youth, health, qualifications
or career opportunities. It is essential to control them.
The Subordinate:
Positive Feelings: -
- Wants to be liked by the boss. However they must not allow this to make them dependent and subservient.
- Wants to be helped to improve.
Negative Feelings: -
The most likely one is fear of criticism of their work or their behaviour. Until the manager allays this fear, the interview will be meaningless and achieve nothing. Only the manager can allay this fear by establishing a counselling relationship, which shows they are fair and can be trusted. It is possible that a member of staff will perform at an acceptable level without motivation, but in many, indeed most cases their results will not reflect their true potential.
A good manager is always conscious of the need to motivate whenever an opportunity occurs. The assessment interview, properly planned, can be the most potent force for improvement.
Attitudes must be understood before motivation can take place:
We all have attitudes, towards work, politics, religion, fluoridation of water and so on. Those, which are the concern of management, are those, which are related to the job.
- Are they positive, neutral or negative?
- In what areas must we know what they think?
- How can we find out what they think?
- How can we influence their thinking?
If the manager knows their own attitudes and those of their staff, then they are better equipped to manage them.
People think in settled, standard ways, dictated by their attitudes, which form, as it were, the filter into their receptiveness. This can even determine what actually does come to their notice.
Some attitudes and beliefs cannot be changed, they are so deeply held, whilst others can fairly easily be changed provided open-mindedness is a strong attitude.
A person's standards will be directly related to their attitudes. If the standard is unacceptable to the manager then it must be changed.
In a group of sales people who have undergone the same selection process to meet the same job description, there will be a considerable overlap of attitudes, but it must not be assumed that each set is identical. People will have their own unique set of attitudes.
We must not fall into the trap of judging others by our own attitudes. e.g.
- What would I do if I were them?
- What would they do if they were me?
Basic attitudes in members of staff which need to be understood by the Manager are:
-To the job.
-To our products.
-To their colleagues.
-To the Company.
-To their manager.
-To their customers.
-To training.
The manager must know what each individual's attitudes are before they can do anything about them, if indeed, anything needs to be done.
- What do they say?
- How do they say it?
- What do they write-?
- How do they express themselves?
- What do they do?
- How do they set about it?
The manager must be constantly on the alert, looking for inconsistencies which will help improve their understanding or provide new information. Chance remarks when off guard often give away the genuine attitude.
Questioning in the formal situation related to attitudes, may be unsuccessful, as the person will be on their guard and will tend to "feed" what they think the manager wants to know.
Where emotions are stimulated attitudes are more clearly displayed.
There is always an inter-relationship in a person's attitudes.
The manager's task is to strengthen desirable attitudes and minimise or eliminate the undesirable ones.
It must be remembered that people can succeed, despite some undesirable attitudes, because other stronger attitudes are dominant. After all it is results that count!
In Summary, The Steps In Successful Performance Appraisal:
1. Review the case history in advance.
2. Listen to the evidence.
3. Discuss diagnosis.
- Don't concentrate on character traits.
- Discuss things that can be improved.
4. Face up to problem areas.
5. Agree a plan of action.
6. Write up a report of the interview.
7. Progress that report.
8. Never discuss a salary review at the appraisal interview.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/253041

Why Performance Appraisals Are Essential

About eight years into my first career (as many of you know I ve had a few), I ranked high enough to have access to files. As any good snooping executive would do, I looked at my folder. To my surprise there was almost nothing in it. Okay, yes, there was the usual tax forms, my original applications, and some outdated references but what was obviously not present was all but a very few performance evaluations. For a moment, I thought it was some kind of trick or joke, and then it dawned on me that I hadn t had a written evaluation in years. Why? Because I kept moving up the levels and around the company, and each time my current supervisor would, with some relief I m sure, figure why waste the time. In fact, once I was told just that, Jane, you got the title, the position, and the money what more do you want? At the moment I agreed. I now realize it was a disservice to me and a risk to the company.

Here s why I am a true believer in the performance evaluation process.

1. (And I really mean when I say this is #1) Good people deserve to be told, in a formal and official way, how and why they are doing well. They also need to be thanked. Too much time is spent on the bottom 10% of staff and woefully little on the people who would be the hardest to replace and missed most. Everyone likes to hear good news from a credible source, yet many executives have a hard time giving praise and showing appreciation. I promise you money isn t enough. Examples are essential. They don t have to be the shining moments but good, solid, specifics as to why individuals and their work is valued. Everyone needs something to hold onto, especially during trying times, (or when competitors are trying to steal your employees).


2. Motivate. Most of us want to improve, expand, or enhance. Performance evaluations provide the opportunity to do so in a way different from our day-to-day normal routine.


3. It s about the employee. For a brief amount in time, the focus is away from the projects, timetable, benchmarks, and is about the individual. Considering how many hours we all contribute to the workplace, isn t it the least individuals can expect? I once had a year-end review walking out of headquarters front door, another on a phone call while my boss drove feverishly to a presentation he was particularly worried about, and finally, and the best, found the forms in an envelope on my desk with a Post It tell me what you think, your raise is in today s paycheck. These are only memorable because they were so ridiculous. Oh, and they never went in my aforementioned file.


4. Avoid passive aggression. The cowardly way to address issues with a staff member is through sarcasm, side comments, or rude e-mails. It takes a certain amount of courage to confront someone in a way that is fair, honest, and to the point. If you believe it enough to say it, you should believe it enough to write it. The evaluation process allows this to happen. It s what you would want, isn t it?
5. Look at the big picture, over time. The evaluation process, hopefully, allows everyone to take an overall view. It s not about the moment, or last week, it s about a period of time and the highs and lows as well as outcomes. I often remind coaching clients that the month in which their performance appraisal is written has to be stellar primarily because many supervisors are so shortsighted. Try to avoid this with your people.


6. Everyone forgets. Here s where self-evaluations are priceless; the employee gets their say and in the process is helping you write the evaluation. It s hard; especially if you have a large number of people reporting to you, to remember everything. Encourage your people to give you details and suggestions. It also is a great gauge of whether the two of you are on the same page and a good predictor of how the conversation will go.


7. Protect yourself. There are a few employees, and I truly believe they are a very small minority, who are vindictive, argumentative, delusional, and/or litigious. I can t tell you how many times I have had supervisors and coaching clients who wanted to take action against an employee only to be told it was impossible because of a lack of a paper trail. No one enjoys this type of documentation but it s an essential part of being a supervisor. I always wrote the most difficult appraisals first. Otherwise, they hung over the entire process, encouraging me to avoid everything and causing a few sleepless nights. Hunker down and do it. I promise you it s a great investment of time.

Writing performance appraisals takes time; more time than you think and more than you probably plan, or want to give. They require dedicated hours, not on-the-run, during conference calls or at the last minute. Whatever amount of time you think you ll need, triple it and you ll be closer to reality.
Also, we expect our employees to be on time and to get work completed on time. So, if evaluations happen in your company the first week of December be ready. Schedule meetings with each of your people and make sure you keep the appointment. It shows you take the process seriously and respect the person.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7431152

360 Performance Appraisal - The Reality Check

This is a breakthrough multi-rater assessment technique because it helps get 360 overhauling about an employee's complete persona. It involves begetting response through structured questionnaire from the bosses, peers as well as the subordinates. Many a time customer's feedback is also included in the account. With this appraisal it becomes easy to identify an apple of boss's eye who could be a brutal bully with other employees mainly his peers and subordinates. The structured questionnaire takes into account parameters such as his hidden talents, approach towards work, behavioral quirks, effective communication skills, ethical standards, values and employee loyalty-scanned, and assorted, checked and counterchecked from peers. The findings are displayed in the form of pie-charts or bar graphs for every parameter.

Merits:
o The structured questionnaire can be set forth as one of effective fact-finding data to gauge employee truths.
o The appraisal helps self-correction especially for the ones with inflexible styles of management.
o Helps recognize potential talent and initiate potential appraisal for promotion. It also helps identify training needs amongst employees and formulate training modules accordingly.
o Helps design promotion and reward for each and every employee in the organization.
o 360 degree appraisal is better suited to appraise the employee on behavioral and other intangible attributes rather than on hard-core job performance ratings.
o Bring to light the reality show about organizational culture and ambience.
o Helps assess methods used to meet targets and whether they are desirable in the present context or have they lost their importance over the time.
o This all round appraisals serve as a bridge to fill the gap between the employee's self-assessment about himself and his peer's and subordinate's opinion about him.
o Helps employees to be self-aware of their behaviors and how they are perceived by others. It helps them check for the fear of being rated and exposed.
Demerits:
o Often the colleague's responses are biased. Assessments are marked depending upon relationship. Often an employee may be ranked poorly due to jealousy or any other preconceived notion spread about him.
o Is incapable of gauging ratings pertaining to meeting targets.
o Can be used to show down people.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/764131

Performance Appraisals - Improving and Rewarding Employees

As a general rule, managers are apprehensive about having to give performance appraisals to their subordinates. And no wonder. It involves an uncomfortable face-to-face interaction with an employee, who might be performing below his capabilities. In addition, most managers are united in their emphasis that paperwork and standardized forms don't really give a true picture of an employee's worth for the simple reason that there isn't just ONE type of employee in the company.

Why Performance Appraisals Lose Value
Perhaps the biggest reason why performance appraisals lose relevance is because managers are not fully trained and equipped to handle them. In most companies, managers are handed forms, given a couple of basic no brained instructions about how to fill them out and little else. Managers need to be trained in-depth regarding the performance appraisal process, including why it plays such an important role in performance management and the delicate nuances of conducting performance appraisals without insulting or negatively influencing an employee's overall performance. Issuing ultimatums and deadlines to managers to hand in performance appraisal forms is hardly the way to go about a process that plays such a key role in the development of the company's human resource pool, arguably its biggest asset.
Another major reason why performance appraisals (which are unique to American business culture) often fail is because of their standardized nature. Any executive who thinks that evaluating a group of people across many departments of the same company, based on the same rating criteria, is a good enough measurement of their prowess, is living in a fool's paradise. Employees, it has often been noted, perform at different levels depending on the department they are in. A standardized form is, therefore, hardly the way to gauge performance and give recognition.
One more reason performance appraisals fail so miserably is because of the comparing and rating of employees that goes on. If employees pitted against each other and you don't have a motivated team; you get a bunch of resentful, bitter people who are united in their common dislike of the manager!
How to Better Your Performance Appraisal Process
Luckily, performance appraisals in the new millennium has begun to evolve and move away from the old model which was confrontational and loathed by all. New techniques of performance appraisal focus more on the future and ways to improve on the employee's performance rather than harping on past mistakes or shortfalls.
In today's corporate scenario, the appraisal process is more goal oriented and centers on feedback and regular performance review. Whereas in the past, performance appraisals were conducted once a year, the latest methods advocate an ongoing series of face-to-face, discussions between the manager and the employee. This ensures that employee performance remains the focus instead of adopting a criticizing tone as in the past. Companies that want to stay ahead in the 21st century must be able to hold on to their most talented people. This will happen only when managers are trained to honestly evaluate their employees and extract the best characteristics and talents out of them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1626875

Align Your Performance Appraisal Process With Performance-Based 360-Degree Feedback

Employee development as a science. Consider employee development as a pro-active competency building process that is human resource smart! Integrating your performance appraisals with performance-based 360-feedback will connect and reinforce the competencies and behaviors that can build the effectiveness of your employees and strengthen the ability of your organization to thrive.

Performance appraisals have become much more relevant in recent years. Yet, many appraisals simply do not work. Most are biased or have little or nothing to do with performance. They are ineffective as a motivator to improve performance.
Comparing PA with 360.Typically, the immediate boss is the primary evaluator and key rater (and rating) on a performance appraisal. That rating may not be as accurate as some employees would like, but the boss is the boss and generally his or her rating prevails. Other appraisals include feedback from the employee. Still others include the direct reports when the employee is in a managerial role.
Performance-based 360-feedback measures what people do on the job and how effectively they do it. The 360-degree process includes feedback from the employee or participant and those who surround the participant and interact with him or her on daily-weekly basis--the immediate boss, and depending on the role or position, the direct reports, peers, team members, and customers (internal or external).
Some advanced 360-systems provide employees with directional feedback. Employees clearly understand the strengths they can build upon, what behaviors they need to do more of or less of to become more effective and influential with those they interact with. Typically, performance appraisals do not provide directional feedback.
Performance appraisals have often lacked a developmental component. There is little or no prescribed follow-up and progress-checks to help the employee stay on any identified performance improvement track. Employees receive a performance ranking, yet without a developmental component they may not know which higher priority areas to build upon, nor which areas they need to resolve first to minimize identified weaknesses. Performance-based 360-feedback fills that void.
Aligning feedback with compensation. This can be scary to some folks. Linking a single feedback source with compensation should not be done lightly. The behaviors and practices measured through the feedback process should be treated as a baseline and not as a sole input to the reward process. Nor should employees be compared with a national or industry. If you consider your organization to be unique, then comparing your people with folks from organizations that are not unique, however you define uniqueness, is pointless. Keeping these suggestions in mind can help you avoid problems associated with using subjective criteria for a substantive decision.
Pre- and Post-Assessments. 360-feedback can help you connect multiple feedback sources and developmental processes with compensation. Consider implementing two assessments to employees within a thirteen month period. The pre-assessment acts as a baseline and identifies strengths and areas for development. Training, coaching, and mentoring can help the employee accelerate their developmental efforts.
If your performance appraisal includes ethics and integrity, for example, include them in your 360-assessment and training program(s). Connecting observable behaviors with feedback appraisal processes reinforces those behaviors and underscores their importance to employees.
Monthly follow-up meetings with the immediate manager can reinforce progress towards self-directed action planning efforts. The post-assessment can identify how effectively the employee has applied what they have learned from their developmental efforts. Employees create subsequent action plans based on their post-assessment feedback.
Compensation is not based upon the first or pre-assessment, but a combination of assessments over time.
Compensation Entitlements. You can align and link your performance appraisal process with a pre- and post-assessment process and compensation. The mindset of many people is to expect a raise each year, regardless of their performance. This is a difficult attitude to let go of regardless of the title or function of the employee. People go quiet when they realize that their salary or wage is their compensation for simply showing up at work and performing acceptable or average results. Compensation should not be linked to mediocrity, but to exceeding expectations, for performing beyond expectations. If you reinforce mediocrity you may actually achieve it.
Separate the feedback-appraisal event from the reward-compensation event.
Providing additional compensation, how much and how often, is an important decision for each organization. Consider the following to get you thinking: "Do you compensate people for improving performance? If so, how much do they have to improve? What if they improve, yet are still considered performing in the ineffective range. Should they be given compensation anyway? What if the employee was and continues to be highly effective? What compensation is due to them?" The critical point is to identify why you compensate at all. Is it to reinforce average performance and mediocre performers or performance and performers who consistently exceed expectations?
Door No. 1 or Door No. 2. Some employees get all funny when they hear about 360-feedback or any appraisal process. Consider giving employees a choice with respect to their performance appraisal process. For example, they could remain with the present performance appraisal system (which may or may not be primarily boss-driven feedback). Or they could choose a 270-degree or 360-feedback process along with feedback from other sources, such as your performance appraisal. Once the employee and boss decide which option is appropriate, the employee lives with that option and the feedback results for that appraisal cycle.
The world of performance appraisals has changed. There is a need for a more balanced way to assess performance. The boss may still be the boss, but the employee is becoming more of a partner with that boss. That partnership requires not only top down feedback, but bottom up and side to side feedback as well.
Credible, relevant feedback can help individuals recognize competency and behavioral areas that need improvement. Performance-based 360-feedback can help people understand the consequences of their actions. It can act as a catalyst for change. It enables your employees to create self-directed action plans that guide them in the direction of exceptional performance.
The competitive trend in the marketplace is not simply to appraise performance, but to accelerate and maximize it. Multi-rater feedback helps eliminate bias by providing more balanced feedback from different sources.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2220187