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ZweigWhite Consulting
According to ZweigWhite's 2006
Policies, Procedures and Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering,
Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms, 93% of companies in
our industry conduct performance appraisals.
Performance appraisals are a great tool for tracking and monitoring career
development, measuring progress against goals, and creating a game plan for
the future. The appraisal process may be an excellent forum for open
communication and discussion and, done properly, they can motivate and
retain employees.
While most of us agree that performance appraisals are beneficial and ought
to be done, how do we know whether or not we are doing them ''right?'' I
would guess that most people who do appraisals learned how to do them ''on
the job'' and very few were ever instructed or trained on the dos and don'ts
of the process.
How do you prepare for a performance appraisal? Here are some helpful things
to consider before you conduct your next performance appraisal:
Do
Create an environment of
confidentiality. Make sure your employee can talk freely
about issues that are concerning him/her and know that everything discussed
will be confidential.
Try to make the employee feel comfortable and not feel threatened.
Be willing to talk about resentments or frustrations. Chances are your
employee will be nervous about the performance appraisal. By creating a
comfortable environment, your employee will be more open about his/her
performance and issues that he/she might have.
Give honest praise for accomplishments and reward past performance.
Talk is cheap, so put this praise in writing and reward good performance
with compensation. This encourages your staff and lets them know that they
and their accomplishments are valued.
Encourage a ''no secret/no surprises'' environment.
Keep your employees apprised on their performance on a regular basis, so
they can continually work on improving. When it comes time for an appraisal,
there will be no surprises for your employees and thus you will avoid
potential emotional outbursts and
conflict.
Set consistent standards of performance.
Be sure that the standards you hold for one employee are the same for other
employees. I once had a client tell me that he was frustrated with his boss
because his boss would say one thing about how his performance will be
measured and say the complete opposite for another employee. Employees will
talk about measures of performance with each other. If they find out about
inconsistent standards, it will limit your credibility as a leader in the
firm and also cause frustration among your employees.
End the appraisal on a positive note.
This will keep your employee motivated enough to improve his/her
performance.
Don't
Call your employees names.
A friend of mine once had a boss tell her that she was short and lazy during
her appraisal. Her boss did not offer her any explanations for why he
thought this about her. This greatly frustrated her and negatively impacted
her work. It also affected her peers who worked with her on projects. There
is always a more diplomatic approach to get your message across.
Judge and make assumptions.
Judgments and assumptions limit you from seeing the entire picture of an
employee's performance and prevents you from giving a fair appraisal.
Instead, try asking questions about issues that you have doubts about and
ask the other members of the management team for their opinion as well.
Make it seem as if you are playing ''big brother'' with your employee.
I have heard of bosses that have monitored their employees' every move and
treated them essentially like children. I have also heard a boss tell his
staff, ''I know what you are doing at all times and I keep track of your
activities.'' Be wary of how these statements negatively impact employees by
making them feel as if they are being monitored like children.
Make general statements such as ''you need to step up'' or ''you need to
show some improvement.''
Give specifics on deficiencies. It is important to specifically tell an
employee how he/she could improve. Avoid making general statements because
your employee will not know how he/she could improve specifically.
Don't talk about the performance of other employees in relation to the
performance of the employee you are giving an appraisal to.
This jeopardizes your reputation as someone to be trusted as well as the
confidentiality between you and your employees. It puts your employee in a
tough spot because your employee will debate whether he/she should tell
his/her peers about the comments being made.
Remember that the goal of a performance appraisal is to improve performance,
improve morale, and reward past performance. Your employees expect you to
give them a fair assessment of their performance to help them improve. Be
open with your employees and provide them with the opportunity to speak with
you again in case they need to ask questions or want to discuss some issues.
Remember how you felt when you were getting reviewed and use that as a guide
for when you conduct your performance appraisals.— MALANCHA GHOSH
(mghosh@zweigwhite.com)
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CONSULTANCY
SDN. BHD.
