Appraising appraisals

by Tony Bolton - Wednesday, 29th August 2007

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Whether you have a formal appraisal system in place or not, you and your managers will always be forming impressions, noting who is enthusiastic, who needs help, and trying to identify the ones to groom for the long term.

But if your appraisals are not systematic, your impressions about staff performance are bound to be piecemeal, anecdotal, inconsistent and incomplete - hardly the best way to approach the cultivation of your most important asset.

True, more formal systems can introduce unwelcome bureaucracy into growing businesses. But they do have considerable advantages.

Appraisals show that your organisation values its people; that raises staff morale and individual effectiveness. They also provide the foundations for informed decisions on training, promotions, succession planning, salary decisions and ways of dealing with recurring problems.

Employees benefit from learning more about their strengths and weaknesses and clarifying their role in your organisation. The managers who carry out the appraisals benefit from having to think about what they expect of their people and focus on what their plans are for the next period.

So if you are considering introducing appraisals or if you are just appraising your existing appraisal system, here's a short review of best practice in the field, garnered from those whose job it is to know.

Do...

Ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it to identify training needs, for salary-setting, promotion or to change the company culture?

Make sure that all senior managers are committed and involved. Consistency and thoroughness are key.

Ensure appraisals are carried out by the immediate boss. Who else could know an employee better? The open exchange between manager and managed is vital to a system's success.

Give proper training. Appraisal is not an innate human talent. Line managers need help to do it properly.

Guarantee objectivity. This means having systematic ways of collecting and dealing with information - often known as "forms." You could make do with notes, but purpose-designed forms, if kept simple and viewed as a means not an end, will enhance the process.

Explain. Not only to managers but to everyone else involved.

Look to the future as well as the past. Appraisal should be more a way of improving things in the future than a way of meting out retribution for past inadequacies.

Make it at least a two-way process. Latest practice is "360-degree" appraisal - taking the opinions of subordinates, peers, suppliers et al into account.

Beware of potential hazards. For example, halo effects: the tendency for one positive attribute to make all other attributes look good.

Follow up. If you agree actions, make sure they happen.

Don't...

Impose the system. You need the commitment of your staff.

Use off-the-shelf forms. They won't fit the needs of your company.

Rate staff on a central basis. Managers tend to avoid very low or very high assessments - so you can end up with everybody rated the same.

Break the link between salary and review. This will make it a more constructive tool.

Use complicated documentation. Keep it simple and to a bare minimum.

Make promises you aren't certain that you can keep.

Have too many interviews in one day. Two two-hour sessions is about all most people can manage.

Assess personal qualities. Appraisals should be performance-based.

Originally published in June 1997. And still useful today!