Helpful Guidelines For Writing Performance Appraisals

In today's business world, companies are relying more and more on writing performance appraisals and using them to document the performance of everyone from the janitor to the CEO. While there are many "form" or template appraisals available from multiple sources, writing your own offers quite a few benefits. Some of these include areas that may be unique to your product if you're a manufacturer or your service if that is your industry. This also allows you to use a base template of your own while adding customized sections for different departments. So what does it take to write a good performance appraisal? There are some basic sections which must be included, but feel free to tailor it to your needs.

First off, be sure that the first section of the appraisal is clearly titled, perhaps in a large font. Doing this can make sure that someone won't grab it on accident and possibly discover or release this private information and clearly tell an employee what they are completing if you give them their own copy for a self evaluation. Then allow room for filling in the names of the reviewer and person being reviewed so it is clear who is involved. If the company using the performance appraisal is large, make sure to include the department or area as well as the immediate supervisor's name.
Second, include a generic section that covers subjects that are fairly universal and generic. Doing so can provide a basis on which to judge the rest of the review, or a quick synopsis for general review. Some subjects that should be addressed in this section include timeliness and attendance records, if available. Other common areas include appearance, attitude, work ethic, thoroughness, efficiency, ability to prioritize and ability to multi--task.
The next section should be tailored to the specific job that the employee has. In a manufacturing sector, the appraisal should include such things as their satisfaction of quotas or quality requirements. It is a good idea to list abbreviated expectations under the heading so it is clear what it is associated with. For service jobs, rating the employee on customer satisfaction and/or retention is advisable. In a sales type situation, it is very to gauge the performance by comparing the employee's performance to quotas or benchmarks.
Finally, leave an open area to write some general comments or criticisms that are not addressed in the rest of the review. This section can deal with such things as promotions or demotions, or on future advancements. It also allows the reviewer to write a small paragraph that summarizes the review and gives some general expectations for the coming year, if done on an annual basis. Designing a performance appraisal is not as daunting of a task as it may seem, and can be very beneficial in the end.
Whether it uses a letter grading scale, or the increasingly popular number score and ranking, a customized one allows you to target certain areas without meaningless sections that are left blank or scratched through.

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