Employee Appraisals
by Neil I. Clark
Many companies use some type of performance and appraisal process
to evaluate their staff on a regular basis. Some organisations
have quite elaborate systems which mathematically tie the employee's
next pay increase to their appraisal rating. Others are much
less formal.
In most cases, however, these systems are an effort to let the employee
know how they are going on the job. When the employee knows exactly
where they stand, and what they have to do to improve that standing,
it makes for much smoother employee relations.
Promotions (or the rationale for not giving them) are much easier
to manage when a formal statement of the employee's performance
is agreed upon.
"Lip Service"
Good ideas are worthless if not implemented. An excellent appraisal
system will fail if not followed, or if managers simply pay lip service
to it.
All too often, appraisals are done because the manager suddenly
realises that it's "that time of year again". They
then throws something together rapidly in order to meet the deadline.
The result is that the "appraisal target" is met, but the
employee does not really get properly appraised.
One reason for this is that many managers consider appraisals as
just another chore that must be done. They see it as outside their
immediate job — an added activity that does not really contribute
to their immediate situation.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Another reason for appraisals not being performed well is that the
process itself is far too complex.
No Need for Complexity
If the manager does not really understand how the appraisal system
works, or how to administer it, they will see it as complex. An appraisal
system which is based on opinion can, indeed, be complex. If the
manager has to make value judgements about the worth of a particular
employee, they are justified in complaining about the complexity.
A good appraisal process should be:-
- A simple system.
- Easy to administer.
- Relevant to the job and the employee’s performance.
Such a system is far more likely to be used by managers. They would
see the value of it and how relevant it was to their activity. So,
how do you construct a performance and appraisal system which will
meet these criteria?
It’s simple — you base it on actual performance which
can be measured.
Define the Result
The very first thing you must do is define
exactly what result you
want this employee to produce. Look at the area they work in and
how it relates to other areas around them. What part of the whole
activity do they contribute to?
This is probably the most difficult part of the exercise and you
should spend as much time as is necessary to get this right.
As has been said before, you pay people for the results they achieve.
Results are measurable, tangible things. If you think they are not producing a measurable result, what are you paying them for?
With some jobs it is very easy, of course, because the result is
right there in front of you, for example:-
- A sales person produces sales, or revenue, or some such.
- A production worker produces completed production items.
But how about a secretary or an accountant. You need to look a little
harder to establish the valuable results they produce. But you will
definitely find them. Here are the key questions to ask yourself
when establishing the results for a particular employee:-
- Is it of value to another part of the organisation?
- Is it measurable?
- Is it within the employee’s control to influence the result?
Get the Employee's Agreement
It is vital that the employee understand what the measurable results
are for the job and that they are, indeed, valid.
One way to achieve this is to actually get
the employee to identify
the valuable result they are supposed to be producing. Be careful
here, however, as this will not always work. With a top performer
(who is already results-oriented) you have a good chance. But if
the employee cannot see the big picture, they may have no concept
of how their job fits into the whole. Consequently, they could come
up with a wrong answer here.
Once you have their agreement on the way you will be measuring their
performance, you can then set some specific targets that can be measured
and graphed. But get the employee’s agreement on these too.
It’s now much easier to measure their progress and final achievements
because you have eliminated opinion!
Opinion or Statistic?
By focusing on the valuable result which the employee is supposed
to be producing, you can now talk in terms of staticisable results.
You can now set some specific benchmarks and targets against which
to measure their performance.
By doing so, you are now in the realm of numbers which can be measured
and compared. There’s no opinion involved with saying, "Well,
the target was 25,000 and you only achieved 15,500. That’s
not very good." They can’t argue with that.
A secretary can argue with an opinion that they "did not give
sufficient support". What’s "sufficient"? Or
a training manager could attack an opinion that they "did not
run good training programs". What’s "good"?
A Workable System
- If you can eliminate the opinion, and replace it with measurable
statistics, you immediately remove the
complexity from the process.
- By working with an agreed measure of the results, you make it
easier to administer the program.
- When you talk in terms of the actual valuable results which the
employee is supposed to produce, you are definitely being relevant
to the job and the performance.
Giving your employees an appraisal which is based upon an agreed
measure of the results they produce can be very powerful. They know
exactly where they stand, and there can be no argument about the
results!
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