Performance Appraisals – Monitoring and Feedback

Providing valuable feedback to the employees should be the goal of a performance appraisal.  But in order to provide the employee feedback you will need to monitor the employee’s work over a given time period and provide ongoing feedback to them.  Nothing — NOTHING is worse than walking into a performance appraisal only to find out that your boss hasn’t made you aware before then that your performance is LACKING.  If your performance appraisal system is tied to your merit increase, this is even more devastating news.  SO, as their manager it is important for you to monitor the goals that were set for the year periodically throughout the year and provide feedback.

Setting goals and expectations at the beginning of the hiring process is a crucial key to monitoring their performance.  Providing feedback is also an important piece.  Don’t wait until the formal review to provide the employee play by play progress, both good and bad.  Award accomplishments and correct bad behaviour early and often.  This will make the performance appraisal process much smoother if there are no surprises during the formal meeting.

Performance Appraisals can be done effectively and properly if you take the time to do the following steps:

Set the Job Responsibilities and your expectations for the employee UPFRONT or upon hiring them (this can come from the job description used to hire them).

Monitor their progress quarterly at a minimum

Provide feedback on successes and failures.  Give them the tools they need to overcome issues as they arise or provide training when needed.

This should make your performance appraisal process much more effective.