One of the biggest complaints from employees and their jobs in general is not about the salary or the number of hours they work but the lack of communication. Employees say that not only do they not now how they are doing, but they also don’t know how the company is doing or about changes that are going on within the company—and what they hear is not coming from their supervisors. Although performance appraisals can never replace the effectiveness of “management by walking around”, one of their advantages is, that if handled properly, they boost communication between supervisors and staff by encouraging feedback and dialogue.
Benefits
Other strategic gains you can make through conducting performance appraisals include:
- Define and review job functions, expectations, and goals.
- Determine training needs.
- Evaluate employees for promotion.
- Review employee compliance with government health, safety, and environment regulations. (essential in a regulated industry like printing)
- Identify areas that need improvement and what needs to be done to fix them. (Incidentally, this process creates the prior documentation you need if it becomes necessary to terminate an employee for inadequate performance)
- Motivate employees by providing an opportunity to reward their individual contributions to the company. Beyond the very effective declaration of personal and public congratulations, such rewards can run the creative gamut from monetary raises and bonuses to certificates of acknowledgement to gifts and perks, such as electronic gadgets or golf games.
It’s Never Too Late
A company can adopt a system of annual performance appraisals any time – even businesses that have gone a number of years without formal and consistent performance reviews. The trick is to plan and conduct the appraisals with professionalism and care. Here are a few quick tips to get you started in the right direction:
- Be sure to review everyone in the company.
- For documentation use a form that allows both the supervisor’s and employee’s written input. This is ultimately signed by both parties and retained in a personnel file, with a copy to the employee.
- To prepare a written evaluation, start by reviewing the employee’s job description. Be sure to understand his or her qualifications, skills, job functions, and legal or regulatory requirements. Then define expectations for job performance and evaluate the employee’s work execution against them. Have some specific examples to support your comments, whether positive or negative.
- Choose a neutral location to meet the employee privately to discuss your appraisal. Don’t let anything intrude once the meeting has started.
- Encourage two-way dialogue. To stimulate discussion, ask open-ended questions such as: “Could you give me some details on ?” or “In your opinion what is the best way ?”
- Identify and agree on goals for the employee for the coming year that are measurable and observable and that are a stretch but not impossible. Tie these goals in with (1) corporate goals and (2) personal value to the employee. Be prepared to sell your suggestions to an employee who may not be receptive to your ideas. It makes sense to develop a plan that works for both of you.
- The appraisal should focus on performance, not rewards. Communication about any rewards should be handled as a summary – not as part of the dialogue. If a salary review is due, leave it until the end.
- Let employees know honestly what advancement potential is available in your company, or if their career has hit the ceiling.
- Close the interview by summarizing the major points of discussion and giving the employee a chance to make any additional comments verbally or written on the form if desired.