sample comments for performance appraisals

1. Sample comments for performance appraisals
Performance appraisal.
Or, if you prefer, performance review.
Whichever term you use, mention it to a dozen of your friends -- whether they
typically give or receive performance appraisals -- and notice the responses you get.
A grimace?
A roll of the eyes?
Tension?
A satisfied smile?
Let's face it, mentioning "performance appraisal" gets such mixed responses because
people have such mixed experiences.
Which is only to be expected... except I bet most of the responses you get are
negative.
If your respondents aren't hostile, or scornful, then they're clearly unimpressed.
Why?
Why are performance appraisals seen to be negative experiences?
I mean, isn't a performance appraisal simply a meeting between a manager and a
member of his or her staff, where together they appraise the staff member's
performance during the year (or other time period) and agree on goals for the coming
year?
Well, that's the theory.
But in reality, many managers handle performance appraisals quite poorly. And the
result is not only an unpleasant meeting, but one where the manager and his or her
staff member never quite understand each other, never quite appreciate the other's
point of view, and never quite settle on appropriate goals for the coming year.
It's almost inevitable that the staff member will end up less happy and less productive
than he or she was before!
In fact, there are five (5) big mistakes that managers often make in conducting
performance appraisals. Fortunately, these mistakes are easily avoided once you make
a conscious effort to avoid them.

2. Let's discuss each in turn.
Mistake #1: Waiting For The Performance Appraisal To Give Feedback
This is the biggie, and all too common. It's where a manager fails to give someone
adequate feedback on their performance during the year, and then dumps it on them in
the performance appraisal meeting.
Unfortunately, the feedback is almost always negative, so the employee ends up
sitting there in shock -- at best, wondering why his or her manager didn't say
something sooner; at worst, feeling unjustly victimized.
And you have to wonder -- how can a manager expect an employee to do the right
things, the right way, if the manager hasn't provided any guidance or feedback all
year?
The solution: make it a habit to tell your employees if they've done a good or poor
job, and if it's a poor job, explain how they can do things better in the future.
There should be no surprises in the performance appraisal!
Mistake #2: Overemphasizing Recent Performances
It's all too human to remember, and give greater weight, to recent events rather than
earlier events. However, this can lead to an inaccurate and unfair assessment when it
comes to reviewing an employee's performance.
To avoid overemphasizing an employee's recent work, take note -- and ideally take
notes -- of the employee's work throughout the year.
Mistake #3: Being Too Positive Or Negative
Some managers feel uncomfortable giving negative feedback and consequently, can
omit to give employees the constructive criticism they need to improve. And then
there are other managers who are instinctively too negative, leaving the employee
wondering if they can do anything right!
While, as a manager appraising someone's performance you should give your honest
opinion... you also want your employee to understand and appreciate what you're
saying.
So instead of being too positive or negative -- which can result in the employee not
believing what you say -- think about the impact on the employee you want, and
communicate your feedback accordingly.
Mistake #4: Being Critical Without Being Constructive
Following on from Mistake #3... some managers can be too critical and neglect to
provide any constructive advice on how an employee can improve.

3. This doesn't help the employee or the manager. Even if your criticisms all have merit,
if you don't explain how the employee can improve, he or she is likely to miss the
validity of what's being said and simply think he or she is being victimized. Not to
mention the fact that his or her performance won't actually improve.
So if you need to be critical, be constructive too!
Mistake #5: Talking Not Listening
The final big mistake that managers make in performance appraisals is doing too
much talking and not enough listening.
These meetings are supposed to be interactive -- where the manager doesn't simply
relay his or her own appraisal of the employee's performance during the year, but also
listens to the employee's viewpoint.
If, for example, you have criticized the individual's performance -- it's not only fair,
but important, to get the employee's response as to why he or she may have
underperformed.
Moreover, a key objective of the performance appraisal is to agree on goals for the
following year. How can there be true agreement and commitment to such goals, if
you don't learn the employee's point of view?
As you've probably gathered, you can avoid these five mistakes -- it just takes a little
effort. It's certainly worth it -- if you think employee satisfaction, productivity and
performance are important!
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performance appraisal.