Appraisals are an important part of any business. Whether you run a corporation or an SME you need to conduct thorough periodical appraisals.
The purpose of an appraisal is to ensure that your employees are performing as per their contract. You can keep abreast of their efficiency within your organisation. But, an appraisal should never be used as a de-motivational tool. You need to use evaluations to raise morale and increase motivation within the workplace.
Appraisals can pick up on problem areas with employees. But, they can also be a benchmark for ensuring that the best talent within your organisation is recognised. You can train employees and inform them of the latest developments regarding their job role in a positive manner. Along with that, an appropriate Assessment Tool can be used to evaluate the quality of their work. Further, it can help to determine their progress in an office training program, capability to perform a task, and might work as an evidence criterion to judge their competency. This could serve as a great helping tool to decide on appraisal for any employee.
This can be a delicate balancing act. Here are some top tips on conducting employee appraisals.
Preparation
Both you and your employee need to be prepared for the upcoming assessment. A weeks’ notice is more than adequate. You cannot insist that their appraisal is done on the same day. It’s unfair. You need to ensure that you have an audit in place of their progress. Absenteeism can be brought up if necessary. Achievements, accomplishments and problem areas should be well researched ahead of the evaluation meeting. Have documentation with you. This is to ensure that your employee has a visual means of the issues and results that they have amassed. Software such as myhrtoolkit can ensure that you have all the relevant audit and documentation in place. Graphs, charts and presentations are an important part of the appraisal process. Use them as a visual aid. No one wants to be lectured.
Building a Rapport
Building a rapport with your team is vital. You don’t want to have a gung-ho approach to appraisals. This will ensure that employee relations are at an all-time low. This will reduce productivity and staff morale will be damaged. You need to have a good working relationship with your employees. Be fair in your approach. Praise the good, highlight the bad and decide on how you will progress, together, in the future.
Building on Achievements
The employee needs to be told when they have achieved a sterling reputation in the company. Be careful that you don’t inflate egos. This can result in complacency. Set new targets, praise your staff and their achievement and push for your employees to do better and exceed their targets. Setting new challenges is a way to ensure that your staffs do not become complacent. No one wants to be bored at work.
Raising Problematic Areas
Only raise issues if you can fix them. If you cannot solve a problem, you cannot raise this with your employee. But, if there are some clearly achievable goals to raising performance, these should be outlined. Provide graphs and charts to highlight your case in point. With clear evidence, the employee will soon realise that this is not personal, it’s fact. You need to encourage employees to have a positive attitude to work. Give them workable personal KPIs. Giving people, unrealistic goals will only increase tension.