Yesterday’s Daily Advisor article discussed recognition and how important it is to provide frequent feedback to employees on how they’re doing, especially if it’s positive. Too many bosses, it seems, take the attitude that positive performance is “what they’re supposed to do” or “what we pay them for.”

But no matter what level of recognition and feedback your supervisors supply year-round, there’s one time they must provide it—at the employee’s performance appraisal. Many workers wait all year for this event, and often anticipation and tension surround it. For how many of us are really sure we’ve done well until we hear it from someone else?

Use sight and sound to train your managers in conducting performance appraisals with BLR’s new Audio Click ’n Train: Performance Appraisals: How to Conduct Effectively. Click for info.

Unfortunately, 30 years of experience in HR tells us that conducting “PAs” is one of many supervisors’ least favorite tasks. As one boss told us, “When you readjust a machine, you don’t have to talk nice to it and give it a raise.”

It was to address such attitudes that BLR created a new program called Audio Click ’n Train: Performance Appraisals: How to Conduct Effectively. It’s aimed at supervisors who might benefit from a little (or more than a little) formal training in what the appraisals are all about. Here are some of the key concepts the program imparts:

The Performance Appraisal Process …

--Benefits the company as much as the employee. For the company, it’s a mechanism for improving performance and rewarding achievements and doing both on a predictable, scheduled basis. It also offers ongoing feedback from workers on how the organization’s parts are operating and documentation should a worker’s performance ever lead to legal problems. Employees, meanwhile, get both rewards for past efforts and direction for the future, as well as a chance to be heard on how to improve things in the workplace.

--Needs to be legally implemented. To avoid charges of discrimination, supervisors need to (1) set the same standards for all employees doing the same job; (2) give timely feedback to all; (3) allow problem employees a chance to correct their shortcomings; and (4) document every step of the way. Supervisors should be aware that, should charges ever be brought, there are cases in which liability may be personal as well as corporate.

--Should be as positive as possible. The idea is improvement, not fault-finding or blame-placing.

Many of your supervisors know they need Audio Click ’n Train: Performance Appraisals: How to Conduct Effectively. Put it to work in your office!  Click for details.

--Must be objective. That means using a uniform rating scale (often numerical) and keeping nonbusiness, personal opinions out of the mix. Supervisors should also look to present a balanced portrait of the employee that includes both positive and negative observations. (All of us likely have some areas for improvement.)

--Needs to include the employee in forward planning. Supervisor and employee should work together to set goals that are measurable and achievable. If past goals have not been met, supervisors should point out company resources to help reach them in the future.

Meeting Guidance

The Audio Click ’n Train: Performance Appraisals program also gives guidance in conducting appraisal meetings, including these points:

--Start with positive comments, and when discussing problems, focus on how to overcome them.
--Be sure the employee understands your policy on when raises are received. Many workers think a good review is immediately followed by a hike in pay.
--Don’t conduct a difficult meeting alone. Ask another manager or someone from HR to sit in.
--When the meeting ends, be sure the employee knows exactly what he or she has to do in the future, and what will happen if the agreed-on plan is … or is not … met.

The program makes one additional key point to supervisors … the same point we made yesterday: Don’t wait for a formal review to let employees know how they’re doing. Praise good work when it happens. Intervene immediately if performance declines.

As the program narrator says, “Continuous feedback is the key to effective performance improvement. Keep the feedback coming!”

Audio Click ’n Train: Performance Appraisals: How to Conduct Effectively will help your employees, your supervisors and your company. We highly recommend it!

Got Supervisors?
Then you’ve got people who probably hate doing performance appraisals. Show them how everyone (supervisors included) benefits from the process with BLR’s new program, Audio Click ’n Train: Performance Appraisals: How to Conduct Effectively. Read more.