Appraisals

It’s time for your performance appraisal. Words that strike terror in the hearts of most normal employees. Most of us would rather go to the dentist than have to go through an annual appraisal or Performance Review.

The funny thing is, most managers who conduct the appraisal or Review would rather go to the dentist as well.

There are a number of reasons for these feelings. For employees the process is frequently conducted in such a way that what should be a constructive process can become a self-justification exercise. Not unusually, employees feel that they have been on the wrong end of an inquisition with all the characteristics of a disciplinary hearing. I have heard suicidal feelings are not uncommon.

For managers the appraisal process can seem like an unnecessary interruption to the working week. Too many appraisals to conduct combined with too much work leads to rushed meetings and the inevitable unsatisfactory outcome. Some managers use the meeting as a means of venting their stress, by telling the hapless employee exactly what they think of his or her performance.

83% of all companies have an annual appraisal. For a significant number they appear to have an appraisal process because it is the thing to do, not because they want to maximise the chances of their employees doing well.

Frankly, any appraisal process is counter-productive if it does not have the full support of senior management and that means spending time and money on making sure the system works and is productive.

So what is the point of an appraisal system? In short it is to review the employee’s performance since the last appraisal in a constructive way, to agree reasonable goals and objectives for the period ahead and to agree how those goals and objectives are to be achieved. This is done by identifying the help and support the employee will need and identifying what the employee needs to do personally to be successful . A key element of a successful meeting is that the goals and objectives must be reasonable and achievable. Impose unreasonable and unrealistic goals and objectives and the employee is doomed to failure.

Macho managers and those who rule with a rod of iron should not be allowed to conduct appraisals. The best people to conduct appraisals are those who can communicate well with the people who work for them.

If you are an employee faced with the ‘dentist’s appointment’ of an appraisal what should you do?

The first thing you should do is prepare for the meeting. Read your last appraisal. If you haven’t got a copy ask for one. Make some notes of how you think the last year has gone. If you think some things have gone well, be prepared to say so. If some goals and objectives have not been achieved analyse as objectively as you can why you did not meet them. Be prepared to admit your mistakes but do not take criticism if there are reasons outside of your control for the target not being achieved. Be prepared to tell your appraiser what happened and why. Remember no-one is perfect and the appraisal is not meant to be a self-justification exercise or about blaming people. It is about helping you to do your job better so the company is more successful.

When it comes to agreeing goals and objectives for the next year, do not be bullied into agreeing things you do not believe are achievable.

If at your appraisal you agree that you will need additional training with your manager, make sure that you get it. Don’t just wait for training to be provided, ask for it.

At the end of the appraisal process remember you need to know exactly what the company expects of you until the next review meeting and you need to be confident that you can meet those expectations. If you do not believe you will be able to do so, the time to complain is now. If you are not sure about whether you want to complain, remember that you are likely to have a very miserable year at work if you are constantly being criticised for failing to achieve a standard that you didn’t have a chance of reaching in the first place.

Published 27/09/2005.