1. Firstly, you really MUST make your expectations clear. What do
I mean by this? Everyone in your organisation should understand how
they contribute to the organisation; that what they do is important and
why.
Prior
consultation should have occurred about what the expected performance
for them is, including discussions about how they can contribute to
their team/group, and how that team/group contribute to the overall
organisational plans. People must see a link to what they do at work,
back to the overall organisation objectives.
2. Be specific, don't generalise - Don't say things like "your work's a bit incomplete", instead refer to the actual example you are referring to; e.g.: "remember last week when you presented a report to the Board, and they had to come back to you with some very basic question? Well, in hindsight how could you have presented that better?" In this example there is reference to something real, not a generalisation and a discussion is possible.
With this approach you will often find you reach agreement with the staff member concerned about a performance gap and in this example, you have also provided an opportunity for them to self correct - meaning you don't have to, which leads to a more comfortable discussion.
3. Don't ever attack personalities - Don't ever catch yourself saying something like "you're personality is probably better suited to the marketing area, so you'll need to curb it while you're here."
People are who they are, performance can be changed, personalities can't. Remember you probably hired them in the first place because of who they are. Don't even try to change personalities; you'll fail. If there is a problem, like advised in 2 above, be specific;
You might choose to say instead: "The client said they were a little put off by your manner, they saw it as lacking professionalism, how might you repair that?"
4. The good with the not so good - Make sure that you give praise where praise is due. This should happen, whenever possible, immediately; don't save it till a formal review, however even if you've already praised for a job well done, refer to it again at review time.
Make sure you refer to the previous formal review discussion and acknowledge any improvements made.
5. Feedback should not be saved for that once or twice a year formal review - you should be giving and asking for feedback on a constant basis.
There should never be anything said at a performance appraisal meeting that comes as a surprise. You should be providing performance feedback regularly; when things happen; good and not so good, give feedback.
6. Remember it should be a two way conversation - Once you have gone through specifics; both good and those that need some work, you should always ask the following question:
"What is it that I can do better to help you achieve your goals?."..
Yes that's right! Don't feel uncomfortable asking that question, after all isn't your objective to encourage and assist your staff to be their very best? Yes? Well don't you want to know if there's something you are doing (or perhaps not doing) that's preventing that from happening
If you do these things, your staff will perform and neither of you will dread that formal appraisal process again.
2. Be specific, don't generalise - Don't say things like "your work's a bit incomplete", instead refer to the actual example you are referring to; e.g.: "remember last week when you presented a report to the Board, and they had to come back to you with some very basic question? Well, in hindsight how could you have presented that better?" In this example there is reference to something real, not a generalisation and a discussion is possible.
With this approach you will often find you reach agreement with the staff member concerned about a performance gap and in this example, you have also provided an opportunity for them to self correct - meaning you don't have to, which leads to a more comfortable discussion.
3. Don't ever attack personalities - Don't ever catch yourself saying something like "you're personality is probably better suited to the marketing area, so you'll need to curb it while you're here."
People are who they are, performance can be changed, personalities can't. Remember you probably hired them in the first place because of who they are. Don't even try to change personalities; you'll fail. If there is a problem, like advised in 2 above, be specific;
You might choose to say instead: "The client said they were a little put off by your manner, they saw it as lacking professionalism, how might you repair that?"
4. The good with the not so good - Make sure that you give praise where praise is due. This should happen, whenever possible, immediately; don't save it till a formal review, however even if you've already praised for a job well done, refer to it again at review time.
Make sure you refer to the previous formal review discussion and acknowledge any improvements made.
5. Feedback should not be saved for that once or twice a year formal review - you should be giving and asking for feedback on a constant basis.
There should never be anything said at a performance appraisal meeting that comes as a surprise. You should be providing performance feedback regularly; when things happen; good and not so good, give feedback.
6. Remember it should be a two way conversation - Once you have gone through specifics; both good and those that need some work, you should always ask the following question:
"What is it that I can do better to help you achieve your goals?."..
Yes that's right! Don't feel uncomfortable asking that question, after all isn't your objective to encourage and assist your staff to be their very best? Yes? Well don't you want to know if there's something you are doing (or perhaps not doing) that's preventing that from happening
If you do these things, your staff will perform and neither of you will dread that formal appraisal process again.
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