How to Have More Productive Performance Appraisals

Paul Falcone asks “Does the thought of conducting a performance appraisal for your employees make you cringe?” In Productive Performance Appraisals, Falcone and co-author Randi Sachs set out to make the process more comfortable for all involved. They say that performance appraisals are nothing more than an ongoing feedback system. It also “represents a system of ongoing engagement with your subordinates that creates for them an environment of job satisfaction and motivation” and it will also “help you build a culture that focuses on performance excellence."

The most important result is not the rating and encouragement of the employee, but the actual process itself. “By working together to analyze and evaluate the employee’s performance as well as his place within the department and the organization as a whole, and by setting goals for the near- and long-term future, you and your employee can strengthen your relationship and become a team of two adults working toward a common, agreed upon goal.”

Here are several tips:

• Document, document, document. Keep a performance log on each and every employee and update it frequently. How often do we let this slide?
• Treat monetary issues and promotions separately from performance appraisal discussions.
• Get employees’ input before making decisions on reassignments or new tasks.
• Learn how to give employees criticism without arousing hostility.
• Avoid the word “attitude” in discussions and documentation and use terms like conduct and behavior instead.
• Always follow up on areas on concern. Don’t look to continually find fault with the employee’s work—you made your point at the performance appraisal. Find out what they are doing right and encourage them to keep it up.

The section on common problems and effective solutions is especially helpful in developing a fresh approach to performance appraisals.