What is an Employee Performance Appraisal
Anyone who has ever worked for someone else has probably gone through some type of employee appraisal process. If you have been in management, you have prepared and presented these appraisals to your employees. Many people equate employee performance appraisals as an unpleasant necessity on the way to getting a raise. However, many companies are moving away from the practice of giving raises and reviews at the same time.
An appraisal is an opportunity for an employee to learn if he or she is meeting the company’s expectations.
Especially during the beginning period of a new job or new position, it is important to receive this feedback. A good appraisal should be more than a grade card of the employee’s performance. The appraisal should clearly describe the areas where the employee is meeting or exceeding expectations. It should also outline the areas that need improvement.
Employee appraisals can be a time for a two-sided exchange between an employee and the supervisor.
Often, supervisors can be so rushed that it is difficult for them to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the employee. During the employee review, the supervisor should be one-on-one with the employee. This will allow the employee to give honest responses to the supervisor’s comments and suggestions.
The employee performance appraisal should be a forward-looking document.
It is not enough to say good job or bad job to the employee. An appraisal needs to offer suggestions of how to build on strengths and repair weaknesses. The employee should walk away from the review with a sense of direction. That is, he or she should have a good idea of where to go from here. Growth and repairs need to be openly discussed until both parties are certain that they have communicated accurately with each other.
Appraisals become a part of the employee’s permanent employment history with the company.
As years pass, these appraisals should begin to form a picture of what type of employee a person is. Since most people have more than one supervisor during a long tenure with the same employer, these appraisals should be an honest representation that is not biased by a single individual’s opinions. This means that the company can review the reviews and see if a person is worthy of promotion or even if he or she should be retained as an employee.
Employees should be allowed to offer a reasonable written response to the appraisal.
Whether the appraisal is positive or negative, the person should be allowed to answer what it says. Mostly, employees are anxious to offer a word of defense after a weak or bad appraisal. However, it can be just as beneficial to respond to a positive review with a few words about the employee’s future plans and hopes as a worker in the company.
