Six Easy Steps to Better Performance Appraisals

Pity the poor manager, staring at a blank page, trying to come up with something to write for an employee's annual performance appraisal. Make your life easier by creating an effective system to keep track of your employees' performance.

1. First, create a Word file for each of your employees. Put it on your computer desktop so that it is easy to find. Password protect!!!
2. Set aside a few minutes on Friday afternoon to make brief notes for each employee's file in a Word document. Describe the employee's performance, both positive and negative. Include dates and the names of other employees who were involved in incidents. Keep it short and focused.

Examples: On Tuesday, January 7, John was 20 minutes late. He said that he had car trouble. JoAnn had to cover his calls in the interim. On Friday, January 31, John volunteered to train the new intern on the HRIS system. John prepared an outline and samples as well as examples for the intern to use as practice. By the following Tuesday, the intern was competent enough to begin entering data. Usually it takes a full week to achieve this level of skill. Thursday, February 12, Amy and John were arguing so loudly that I heard it from three doors down the hall. When I intervened, it turned out that Amy had supplied incorrect information to John and began shouting when John protested. John also raised his voice. The incident was unprofessional and a poor example for the interns.

3. If you can't think of anything to write for an employee, go visit and them. Ask how their week went. Find out if they ran into any problems. Ask if they need anything from you. Document your conversation and resolve to be more involved next week.
4. Save each document into the employee's file using a code for easy sorting. At the beginning of the file name, grade the overall performance for the week using the same rating scale as you use for appraisals and then file it by the date.
5. At the end of each quarter, review the weekly grades and discuss performance issues or trends that that have emerged.
6. At the end of the year, use your notes to create a concise, informative performance appraisal.

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