How To Conduct an Employee Appraisal

Blog has moved

2009-02-18T14:58:00.002+10:00

Hi everyone

Just letting you know that this blog has now moved to www.performancereview.com.au. I look forward to seeing you there!

Ingrid Cliff

Linking Performance Appraisals to Business Plans

2008-08-28T09:49:00.003+10:00

Performance appraisals should never be conducted in isolation of the overall business direction. It is important to link each person's goals and objectives back to the business overall goals and objectives.

Unless each person can clearly see how their job contributes to at least one part of the business success, then they begin to wonder if their job really needs to exist and if they are adding value to the organisation.

The way to do this by starting with the overall list of goals and objectives for the company - each person in a company is either directly contributing to a goal or supporting someone who is directly contributing to a goal.

You can ask both yourself and each employee two questions:

How does your position contribute to the overall goals of the business?
How will you know when you are successful?

These two questions are deceptively simple, but taking the time to really dig for the answers will start to create a stronger alignment between each person and the overall success of the business.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Employee performance appraisals

Start easy for your first employee performance review

2008-08-04T16:29:00.003+10:00

When scheduling your employee performance reviews, the temptation is to start with the person you have been itching to tell exactly what you think of them. This is the absolute worst thing you can do!

Always start your employee performance reviews with the easiest person to review. That way you will reduce your nerves, get comfortable with the process and build your skills during the review. Generally if you get on really well with the person, at the end of the review you can ask for feedback on your own performance as a reviewer. This will further help you build your skills.

Work up to the harder reviews - especially the ones that give you sweaty palms just thinking about them.

For the sweaty palm reviews spend time working out possible scenarios as to how they may play out and what you may say. Practice with a trusted colleague or your human resource manager - do a few dummy runs. You want to create a reflex reaction so if a particular response arises then you can deal with it quickly and efficiently.

If you have any reason to believe the person has the potential for violence, your safety is paramount. This doesn't mean ignore the review, it means take steps to minimise any potential risk to yourself and other people. We will talk more about this in a future post.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony - Human Resource Copywriters

Putting your business into words

Spend more time planning than reviewing

2008-07-10T20:57:00.003+10:00

Managers often ask how much time should they spend appraising compared to planning for the future.

I have a strong view that there should be no surprises during performance reviews. With that viewpoint I recommend managers spend more time planning for the future rather than focusing on the past at performance review time. If you spend all your time wading back over already covered ground you won't have the chance to build a great foundation for the future.

One-on-one time with an employee is precious - use it to set boundaries, clear up delegations for upcoming projects, work out what needs to be delivered and how the employee can best achieve those goals.

If you haven't had the ongoing communication with your employee throughout the year and you have decided to give feedback all in one hit - then split your meeting into two separate meetings. The first meeting should be the appraisal and the second meeting a few days later should be focused on the future. That way you won't contaminate the planning meeting with the appraisal process.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony

Putting your business into words

It's Performance Review Season Again

2008-07-04T21:36:00.002+10:00

t’s that time of year when many businesses start doing their employee performance reviews.

There was an interesting study done by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Ethics Resource Centre (ERC). Only 23% of HR professionals surveyed had any form of comprehensive ethics or codes of conduct in place in their organisation and only 43% assessed ethical conduct as part of their employee performance reviews. Since ethical conduct is and should be a "given" in all workplaces this is a bit of a concern.

When you do your employee performance reviews you need to look at not only WHAT a person does but HOW they do it. The most common problems with employees performance are in the HOW category.

I would be so bold as to suggest that most employees who are fired are only fired for how they do their job (their attitude, approach, interactions with others) and not what they actually do.

If you don’t address the how in your performance reviews, if ever you need to discipline or terminate an employee you have no leg to stand on legally before the courts in case of appeal. They rightly can argue they have not been given the opportunity to address these issues.

If you are looking for a simple yet thorough Employee Performance review process - check out our Employee Performance Reviews: Tips, Templates and Tactics e-manual .

It has all of the processes, templates and forms as well as info on dealing with the "hard issues" such as an employee bursting into tears during your review or getting angry. It is a great resource for all managers about to head into Performance Review season!

Until Next Time

Ingrid Cliff

Dealing with rater over-confidence

2008-01-30T07:27:00.001+10:00

With good performance review processes, you have the employee complete a self rating before you meet. Generally many employees rate themselves quite hard, or on par with your views of their performance. But what do you do if the person has rated themselves as exceptional on many areas and you think they are borderline competent (at best)?

This is much trickier to deal with than the person who is too hard on themselves.

Before you meet first double check your facts - are you 100% confident that your assessment is accurate. Have you been too hard on them with your assessment.

When you meet ask them to explain why they believe they deserve that rating. Dig a bit to see if there are complexities in their job you were not aware of, or if there is any justification for their assessment. Assume they are right with their assessment until proven otherwise.

So - what if you do that and there is still a significant difference in your views? Start by commenting that you and your employee have significantly different ratings. Ask the person why they think that may be the case (and be willing to accept some hard personal feedback if necessary).

Then move onto the ratings and why you believe they are an accurate reflection of their current competence level. Be prepared with your strategies to deal with push back and tears - this is generally when you will get an emotional response in a performance review.

Focus on observed behaviour not the person. Give concrete examples of where the behaviour and outcomes were less than exceptional.

If you are still convinced your rating is correct after talking it through, then leave your rating and stands and invite the employee to add their clarifying comments to the review.

These situations are where a 360 review really come into their own. One person highlighting a difference of opinion is easy to dismiss - 10 people all saying the same thing is harder to ignore.

Finally, know that where this happens in most cases the employee won't "get" your rating. They will generally gossip about it with their peers and family talking about how unfair you were. In many cases they will look for another job down the track. Be prepared to manage the fall-out.

So does this mean you shouldn't be 100% honest about your views? No! Be honest - speak your views and hold firm if you genuinely believe you are are right in the face of all evidence before you. It is more important as a manager to remain in your integrity and be honest with all of your employees, than it is to lie just to keep the peace.

I have lost count of the number of unfair dismissal cases I have seen before the Industrial Courts where a manager tried to keep the peace over the years and gave in to the ratings, before finally snapping and sacking the person - or a new manager coming in and being honest. If all of the evidence on file (your performance reviews) says the person was a good performer and you sack them for poor performance - then you can kiss your case good-bye. In the long run you will be better off telling the person the truth.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

What is a 360?

2008-01-21T12:54:00.000+10:00

Here is a copy of an article I published in my newsletter this week about 360 degree performance review. To subscribe to my weekly newsletters go to www.heartharmony.com.au.

I was talking with a manager the other day about their employee performance review processes. This company had been doing them for some time and wanted to take their reviews to the next level.

What about a 360? I was met with a very stunned look.

"I didn't think you thought of me that way" came the reply. It was my turn to look stunned.

"No – a 360 degree performance review process" was my reply.

A 360 is where a person gets feedback on their performance from their peers, their subordinates, their boss and in some cases even suppliers and clients. That's why it is called 360 – you get feedback from all around you.

A 360 is a very intense tool and not to be messed with. I have seen it create miraculous shifts in previously stuck managers and I have seen it plunge people into a major stress crisis. I have even seen people totally ignore what all the facts are telling them and stay on their track. It is only a tool for a mature organisation willing to take it seriously and implement it correctly.

Why? Imagine you are in a room, having a quiet coffee by yourself. All of a sudden in walk 20 of your employees, peers and your boss. They each proceed to tell you exactly what is right and wrong with your leadership, your knowledge, your teamwork, your technical skills and a host of other things. All you are allowed to do is listen. Now you can see why it is intense!

There are lots of tools on the market to help create a 360 – many just focus on the forms and not the process (or the process to debrief and ensure the person remains stable!).

If you are looking at doing a 360 here are my best tips to help you create one that works for your business (no matter the tool you use).

360 should NEVER be mandatory. It should always be voluntary. If mandatory you will force people who may be having a lot of stress in their personal life to deal with an additional stress load which could push them over the edge.
360 should never be used as a promotion tool. It is designed to help people learn and grow and not punish and reward. If you take it in the positive development approach you are more likely to get honest feedback from participants and more willingness to deal with the results by the person. If it is for reward and punishment, the dynamics change and it is less effective.
360 questions need to be directly related to what matters in your organisation. There is no point doing a 360 if none of the questions relate to areas of importance to your company. Do you want managers to work across information silos – then measure it. Do you want managers to be inspirational leaders – then measure it.
The boss goes first and shares their results with the management team. If you are serious about a 360, the boss should be the first person who has one and they should share the results with the management team. If they are not willing to be open and do the process, the company is not ready for a 360 generally.
Confidentiality is crucial. Every subordinate, peer, client and supplier who responds should have their results pooled and not be identifiable. This assists in ensuring they will give honest feedback.
Feedback is perception not proof. The results of a 360 are just people's perceptions of a person at that point in time. Something about their behaviour is triggering this result. Perceptions are not proof that a person is "bad" – they are just showing something in the behaviour needs to be modified.
The process is more important than the forms. You need to ensure everyone is briefed beforehand (participant and raters) as well as ensure that you allow a good 2 hours with each person to debrief their results. The results can't be just mailed or handed to someone, they must be debriefed – taking into account emotional reactions as well as action setting for the future.
No witch-hunts. There should be no witch-hunts over negative results. If a person decides to blame the raters and punish them – then you quickly need to deal with it as a case of workplace bullying.

Follow these processes and you will have a powerful tool to make significant change in your company. Miss any of them and you will get a paper exercise or conversely one that damages people for life. It's your choice.

Remember - for a basic employee performance review for small business, check out my Employee Performance Review -tips, templates and tactics pack.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

What criteria do you use to measure employee performance?

2008-01-14T17:19:00.000+10:00

Recently I was asked if time and results were the only things you could use to measure employee performance. Here's a snippet of my response.

The most important thing to remember when measuring performance is that you are trying to measure the things that make the most difference (not just the things that can be measured). The problem is that many of the things that make the most difference are not easily quantifiable.

For example, it's easy to measure how many hours someone works. But they may have wasted that time, derailed projects and created lots of rework for people in that time. Time is not a good measure of results.

The employee may have delivered on a project, but in doing so they may have alienated all their team mates and annoyed the major clients so much that they leave and find other suppliers. Results alone are not a good measure of success.

Some of my most productive and best team members in the past are the ones who spent less "face time" in the office than other team members - they were just more productive when they were there and could form stronger relationships with team members and clients.

Performance is a blend of what you do and how you do it. Performance reviews that just focus on the task and the what are less effective than ones that also balance the process of how the task was done.

I prefer to measure task success, understanding & compliance with internal procedures and practices as well as their approach which includes things that are important to your company.

The sort of things you may want to consider includes things like cross team collaboration, attendance and punctuality, initiative, dependability, attitude, judgment, communication, productivity, interpersonal relationships, organisational & time management, knowledge sharing, safety etc.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Employee Performance Review Humour

2008-01-13T07:37:00.000+10:00

Performance reviews can be very serious - but they can also be funny.

Check out the great employee review comments and what they "really" mean (as well as some very funny comments made on military performance appraisals).

http://www.squidoo.com/employeeperformancereview.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

How NOT to do an employee performance review

2008-01-12T17:54:00.000+10:00

The Office makes a great point on how NOT to do performance appraisals!

Until next time'

Ingrid Cliff
Heart Harmony

Employee Performance Reviews - Tips, Templates and Tactics

2008-01-08T21:32:00.000+10:00

Performance reviews just got easier!

I have just released my Employee Performance Reviews - Tips, Templates and Tactics pack.

The pack is choc-a-bloc full of great tips, templates and tactics for small businesses wanting to introduce or improve their employee performance review process.

Just for starters - the pack contains over 55 pages of probation templates, performance review templates, learning & development templates, unsatisfactory work performance templates and discipline templates ... all ready to be customised for your business.

Employee Performance Reviews - Tips, Templates and Tactics also contains the best wisdom from 25 years of hands-on, in-the-trenches experience on:

the 4 stages of performance management - it is simpler than you think,
why do performance reviews anyway - reasons to review for both for a manager and an employee,
preparation and location for optimal outcomes - how to get it right before you walk in the door,
how to choose your words for best result and
handling difficult emotions - yours and theirs!

Employee Performance Reviews - Tips, Templates and Tactics

comes with a stack of bonus HR Articles to help you manage and implement change, motivate your team and manage inter-generational differences within your team.

Check out the Employee Performance Reviews - Tips, Templates and Tactics pack here!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

How long should your employee performance review take?

2008-01-08T11:25:00.000+10:00

One of the most common questions I get is "how long should we put aside for the actual review".

My answer is it depends on a number of factors:

have you had regular feedback sessions one on one with the person throughout the year?
have they completed a self assessment (this cuts down on meeting time as well as improves the quality of the discussion if done correctly)?
how well do you truly know the person?
are you really serious about the review?
what challenges have you and the person had in the past year?
what projects are coming up for the new year.

If you haven't spoken regularly since the last review you could be up for a 2 hour session as the person has a lot of catching up to do with you. They generally have your attention and will make the most of the opportunity!

If you have a great relationship, know each other well, have regular communication and have both done your pre-assessments - then a half hour is quite normal

At a minimum I suggest a one-hour timeslot with another hour between your next appointment and the review. That way if you run over there are no problems - you can concentrate on the person in front of you instead of watching the clock

So ... how long should you allocate? As long as it takes to have a deep, connected discussion with your employee. Simple really!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony

Preparation is the key

2008-01-04T06:43:00.000+10:00

Preparation is the key to a successful employee performance review. Reviews are not something you can just pop into and "winging it" if you want to get the best results from the review.

So how do you prepare? Start by gathering your data - by that I mean:

dust off last year's performance review - have a look through and see what was agreed, what training you had decided on, strengths and challenges as well as goals and targets
find the position description for both your role and the role being reviewed - so you can talk about how the two fit together
locate the business plan or corporate plan - highlight the key parts of the plan that relate to the role. Every job needs to be delivering on some aspect of the plan - work out specifically how the role contributes to the overall strategy
look back over any project reports, email updates, diary notes to list out as prompts the projects completed or started by the person in the role
review the personnel records relating to annual leave (to make sure the person is having sufficient breaks to rest and recuperate), sick leave (for any patterns such as always having a Monday off)
a copy of the employee's own assessment for this year (the best reviews ask for the employee to complete a self assessment form first and hand it to you before the review so you can read over the notes before the meeting. We will talk more about this in another post)

Once you have your data, look over the list and start to collate your thoughts into categories.

Background and context for the role
Last year's goals
Areas of strength for the person
Areas of challenge for the person
Team member approach & attitude
Areas for development
Upcoming projects and targets
Administration

Once you have your notes together you then need to plan for your personal approach during the review - by this I mean thinking through HOW you will phrase and say what you want to say and planning for possible responses. This is a major priority for success and will be the subject for a more detailed review in a future post.

Until next time

Ingrid

Questions not answers make great employee performance reviews

2008-01-01T18:46:00.000+10:00

Questions and not the answers you provide create the most powerful employee performance reviews.

Think about learning to drive a car - someone could tell you what to do until they were blue in the face, but it wasn't until you physically sat in the drivers seat and made mistakes (corrected by the instructor) that you truly started to learn to drive.

Why do managers then insist employee performance review time is when they get to sit back and tell the employee everything they have done wrong and what they should do to fix it?

The best managers and leaders use employee performance reviews as a time to ask powerful questions to help the employee reflect on their performance and to set goals for the future.

Here's two of my favourite questions that I use with my team and why I use those questions.

· What was your favourite task/role/project in the past 12 months and why? What made it so special? What made it successful? What did you do to make it work so well? This is a great question as it helps you to find patterns of success. You get to learn what motivates your team member.

· What was your biggest mistake/regret of the past 12 months and what did you learn from it? Another great question. Often this will help identify areas you need to keep an eye on in the future. For example, was there a particular personality they couldn’t work with, were they having problems with time management or trouble with balancing work and life? By having them reflect and learn from their mistakes you help teach that mistakes happen in life – it is what you do with them that are important.

To have a look at some of the other questions I ask my team during their employee performance reviews here is a link to one of my articles.

Until next time

Ingrid

Stages of Employee Performance Management

2007-12-30T20:44:00.001+10:00

Employee performance reviews need to be conducted using a clear system that everyone understands and follows. If you do this you will increase your ability to manage employee performance – both good and bad.

All performance management systems in business are made up of just 4 basic stages – everything else is just window dressing.

These stages are:

1. Setting clear goals or targets

2. Performing the work

3. Checking how the work went against the goals or targets

4. Setting new goals or targets

So, how do you set clear goals and targets? The basics of any effective employee performance goal or target are having clear and shared understanding of:

· What has to be done;

· How is it to be done (which includes information, resources or riding instructions); and

· How do you know that it has been done successfully?

You develop your clear and shared understanding as part of your employee performance review. This can be through discussions or through formal written documents - the level of formality depends on your individual needs, company policy and the relationships you have with your staff.

Performing the work stage of the cycle is fairly self explanatory. This is where you as a manager get out of the way and let the actual work be performed. However, you do provide regular and ongoing feedback to help keep your employee on track. I like to think of it like a test and measure for your advertising campaign – you regularly check in with what is working and then adjust things as you go to get the absolute best out of the campaign.

My over-riding rule for all employee performance review processes is “No new information”!

There should be absolutely no surprises to your employees if you have provided feedback correctly during the “doing” stage of the process. If there was a surprised reaction, this is giving you feedback that your own personal communication style may need some attention.

At the review stage you review and summarise how things went and then start the whole cycle again. You can hold your reviews every 6 or 12 months, depending on your individual company and the needs of your projects or tasks.

Employee Performance Reviews with your staff does not have to be a “big deal” – it just needs to be regular, ongoing and understood.

Until next time

Ingrid

Choosing the location for your employee performance review

2007-12-30T17:09:00.000+10:00

In real estate the catch phrase is location, location, location. This is also true for your employee performance review.

One of the first things you need to consider is the location where you will be holding your review. Performance reviews need to be held somewhere where your conversation will not be overheard by other team members. You also need to have somewhere where other team members can't peer into the room to "watch how it is going".

Effective reviews can't be held over your front counter if customers are likely to walk in, out in the tea room if other team members are around or even outside standing in the parking lot. You need a location where you can sit down together and discuss in a safe, quiet and calm environment the employee's performance.

In many businesses this will mean that the local coffee shop becomes your performance review office - as you may not have enough privacy within your workplace.

If this is your situation, try and pick a time either when the coffee shop just opens or is about 2 hours from closing rather than in the busiest time of the day. You want to be able to hear each other and not be bumped by other people!

In terms of seating, if you are worried at all about how your employee may react (they may burst into tears for example) seat them in a way that their privacy and dignity is retained. This may mean they face away from other people or you sit in a booth rather than a central table.

Meeting over a coffee will also help break the ice between you both as you both have something to do if emotions run high (drink your coffee, organise a water etc).

One last word - if you host the employee performance review off site you get to pick up the tab for the coffee!

Until next time

Ingrid

How to Conduct an Employee Performance Review

2007-12-30T16:57:00.000+10:00

One of the hardest challenges managers face in the workplace is conducting an employee performance review.

Some attack reviews like a bull at a gate - racing in and talking at a thousand words a minute (and not listening in the process); others are very laid back - so laid back employees don't know where they stand and still others are masters of avoidance - always managing to be too busy to actually have an performance review with their employees.

I have worked with many managers in my 25 years as a Human Resource professional and have found a number of tips and strategies that make conducting an employee performance review easier and more effective for everyone involved.

Through this blog I intend sharing some of these ideas with you - so you can make your employee performance review positive, powerful and productive.

Until next time

regards

Ingrid