2. Major issues with regards to performance appraisals:
Goals - they need to be established ahead of time so you can adequately and fairly evaluate an
employee against their established goals. Typically it's not done before hand and it becomes
more subjective/less objective
Once/year feedback - managers look at Performance Appraisals as the one time of the year they
actually have to provide feedback to their employees and that is a serious problem.
Performance feedback needs to be a PROCESS not an EVENT and feedback should be
constantly given and documented so that when a performance appraisal is written it doesn't
come as a surprise to the employee.
Poorly written/one sided reviews - unless managers receive proper training, they can sometimes
write poorly written reviews with illegal content, poorly constructed feedback etc. To do a
good review you need to ensure you're getting 360 feedback - meaning a subordinate, a
manager, a peer. Then you should focus on thematic data that is provided, not just one
example of behavior gone wrong. Manager's don't always know how to identify outlier
incidents vs. innate behaviours.
3. Examples - when providing feedback, make sure to give examples (again, thematic - not random
incidents)
Development plans - good performance appraisals also include feedback on what appropriate next
steps are to develop an employee. For example, job rotations, training, stretch projects - anything
to help an employee grow and get better. This is not always included in PAs.
Best thing to remember is that the purpose of a PA is to provide an employee with constructive
feedback against their performance to help them leverage their strengths in their job so they can
grow and advance within the compnay. Good performance reviews are based on clearly outlined
goals, constant & consistent feedback (never want it to be a surprise), and outlined opportunities
for future growth.
Hope this helps - good luck!
