How do I start the appraisal discussion with an individual who has a great deal of experience and has worked for the company much longer than I have? The process is essentially the same as it is with anyone else. The fact that a subordinate is older—or younger, or a different religion, or a different [...]

The best way to put the individual at ease is to eliminate small talk and get right to the point. Here are some suggestions that will help you make the opening seconds of the meeting productive and comfortable: Welcome the individual. Describe the meeting’s importance to you. Provide the overall time frame for the meeting. [...]

Before I sit down to conduct an appraisal discussion with an individual, is it appropriate to talk with others to get some insights into what I might expect? Yes. Once you have prepared the individual’s performance appraisal and are getting ready for the discussion, there are several sources of information and assistance that can help [...]

Here’s a quick assessment tool to help you effectively prepare for the performance-review meeting: Pre-Meeting Activities Checklist Gather information and materials. Choose a convenient time. Pick an appropriate place. Consider facilities and room arrangement. Determine the agenda. Give the individual a copy of the appraisal to read in advance of the meeting. Arrange for work [...]

Just as the manager has responsibilities, so too does the individual. There are six primary ones: 1. Discuss the achievements list you wrote. 2. Discuss what you achieved against your development plan. 3. Compare your assessment of your own performance with that of your appraiser. 4. Seek clarification for any assessments or examples that are [...]

The manager has seven primary responsibilities: 1. Review the agenda and time frame for meeting. 2. Review and discuss the performance appraisal you wrote and the individual’s achievements list. 3. Listen and respond appropriately to the individual’s perceptions and feedback. 4. Discuss your assessment of the individual’s performance against objectives over the entire cycle, especially: [...]

Performance review is the final phase of an effective performance management system. It involves the individual and the manager discussing the performance appraisal document that the manager has created. The performance management process both ends and begins anew with the performance review meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, the individual’s past year’s performance is [...]

I have a concern about one of my people’s performance, but I haven’t previously discussed it with him. Is it okay to bring it up for the first time on the performance appraisal? The traditional rule is well known and is always explained to managers when they go through performance appraisal training programs: No surprises [...]

One of my subordinates does a very good job . . . not breathtakingly outstanding, but solid and strong and better than average. Should I rate her in our middle category of fully successful or push her evaluation over the line and into the superior category? How do I figure out the right category? ´ [...]

How can we take the "personal" out of a review and still give an accurate picture of the employee? For example, Joe’s going through a divorce. His performance has suffered, but I empathize and want to give him a passing review. It’s understandable to want to avoid giving someone a mediocre review when we know [...]

Should employees in new roles be measured and evaluated the same as employees who have been in a role for a length of time? Yes. Tell Me More It’s likely that the person who is new to the job is not going to do it as well as someone with a couple of years of [...]

Our rating scale is numerical: one, two, three, four, and five, with five being the highest on the scale. Sally basically did a good job this year. Should I rate her a three, a four, or a five? To begin, recognize that you’ve got a bad form. Good performance appraisal forms don’t require appraisers to [...]

Our performance appraisal form has a rating scale that asks whether the performance failed to meet expectations/met some expectations/met all expectations/exceeded expectations/far exceeded expectations. If I haven’t discussed my expectations with the employee, how do I rate performance? Contained in this question is the best argument for conducting a performance-planning discussion at the beginning of [...]

In writing the individual’s performance appraisal, should I consider how well he performs compared with other people in the department who are doing the same job? Yes. There are only three bases of comparison that you have available in assessing the quality of someone’s performance: Comparison with others, predetermined standards, and gut feeling. Tell Me [...]

The individual failed to achieve an important objective, but there were extenuating circumstances. How should I rate her performance? This is a situation where the narrative section of the appraisal form is critical. As a rater, you have an ethical responsibility to tell the truth. If the objective wasn’t met, say so. But you also [...]

It’s true: Once an appraiser has written a performance appraisal and has achieved his boss’s blessing, the appraiser is unlikely to be willing to change the appraisal, even if the employee is able to present solid evidence and persuasive arguments about why the appraisal narrative and rating, even though approved, is inaccurate. Employees may also [...]

How do I go about convincing my boss (assuming her approval is needed) that one of my people deserves a particularly positive or negative review? Begin laying the groundwork well in advance of the time when you actually show your boss the completed appraisal you have written on the individual and ask her to approve [...]

Yes. Reviewing your performance appraisal of a subordinate before you hold the appraisal review discussion with that person is a very wise thing to do. Tell Me More Here are the benefits of reviewing your performance appraisals of your staff with your boss before you discuss them with the members of the team: Error Reduction. [...]

Rating errors are mistakes in judgment that result from allowing extraneous factors to influence our decisions about the quality of someone’s job performance. For example, consider the guilt-by-association error: The employees that Samantha hangs around with are poor performers and have bad work habits. As a result, her boss rates Samantha’s performance low without taking [...]

Should I include the employee’s successes and failures in completing the development plan as part of his formal performance appraisal? No. Development is development—it’s not job performance. Giving someone a high performance appraisal rating because that person completed an important and challenging development plan (while missing several important performance expectations) is as unfair as gigging [...]

One of my subordinates works in a different city and I don’t see her very much. How can I appraise her performance accurately? This is an easy one. The mistake appraisers make in this case is to assume that it’s their job to figure out an answer to the question. It’s not. Make it the [...]

Put more emphasis on the results. Ultimately, getting the job done is more important than the way in which the results were brought about (assuming legal and ethical means were used). Tell Me More Some organizations provide for various objectives to be weighted, or allocate a certain number of points between the competencies portion of [...]

I’ve asked the employee to write a self-appraisal. Should I use what the employee has written in the self-appraisal as part of the official appraisal I’m writing? Only if what the employee has written exactly reflects your own view of the quality of her performance. Some individuals have discovered that when they are called upon [...]

Would it be a good idea to ask for information from a salesman’s customers, or ask a manager’s subordinates about her performance as a supervisor? Other people may have far more information than the manager himself may have. Customers know more about a salesman’s customer relations performance than the sales manager knows; subordinates know more [...]

You’ll need information about four different factors that contribute to an effective performance appraisal: 1. The job 2. The jobholder 3. The person 4. The self-appraisal or accomplishments list Tell Me More The Job. Begin by rereading the job description for the individual. That is your very first responsibility in getting ready to do a [...]

Here is a four-step process for writing an effective performance appraisal: 1. Gather all of your information. 2. Get the big picture—the core message—clearly in mind, by asking: ‘‘What is the single most important message I want to communicate about the individual’s performance through this performance appraisal?’’ 3. Identify the three key elements: Particular strengths [...]

First, follow your company’s policy. Many organizations request that all employees complete a self-appraisal as part of the organization’s performance management system. If your company does have such a requirement, ask each individual to complete the self-appraisal as policy dictates. If there is no requirement for self-appraisal, it’s still a good idea. The hour that [...]

Yes. Requesting a list of their accomplishments and achievements from each individual over the course of the year is one of the most effective ways to begin the performance assessment process. Tell Me More The best way to start the performance assessment phase of the process is for the manager to request an accomplishments list [...]

Does she have to review and approve my appraisals before I deliver them to my staff? In the performance assessment phase, the reviewer—the supervisor’s supervisor—has a specific set of responsibilities. The primary ones are to: Ensure timely completion of performance reviews. Ensure fair, thorough, and complete reviews. Ensure inter-rater reliability. Ensure tough-minded, demanding performance standards [...]

Both the manager and the individual have responsibilities in the performance assessment phase of the process, just as they do in each of the other phases. The individual has six key responsibilities: 1. Review your personal performance over the year. 2. Assess your performance and accomplishments against the development plan. 3. Prepare a list of [...]

The manager has eight primary responsibilities in the performance assessment phase: 1. Review the original list of competencies, goals, objectives, and key position responsibilities. 2. Prepare a preliminary assessment of the employee’s performance over the entire year. 3. Review the individual’s list of accomplishments and the self-appraisal. 4. Prepare your final assessment of the employee’s [...]