A NEW PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ATTITUDE:
STOP JUDGING AND START MOTIVATING 

Published February 26,2008

 

More than one cartoon has depicted a manager giving an employee a performance review as a larger-than-life judge, jury, and executioner. It's this idea that they have to pass judgment on employees that causes managers to dread the performance appraisal process.

 

Managers can overcome their trepidation by thinking of performance evaluations not as a means to judge performance, but rather as a way to "maximize motivation potential," said Rebecca Mazin, co-founder and Managing Partner of Recruit Right, a Human Resources consulting firm (Larchmont, NY), in a recent AHI web conference titled How To Conduct Motivating & Legally-Sound Performance Appraisals.

 

Entering a formal evaluation with a motivation mindset, whether you're looking to inspire a poor performer to shape up or a solid performer to take it to the next level, is just the start. To transform that goal into performance reality, Mazin instructed managers to...

...Know the employee's performance. Observe them working, review past evaluations, and solicit the observations of others. Mazin cautioned against allowing one overly negative or positive incident to color the entire perception of the employee's performance.

...Define numerical ratings. Employees must understand what level of performance warrants which numerical rating. Start by defining what's expected of employees; this would be the middle of the scale rating, e.g., a "3" on a 5-point scale. Then go up and down from there.

...Identify accomplishments achieved. Be specific. Don't just say the employee "improved," for example. Spell out what the employee did right.

...Identify goals missed. "Don't whitewash the evaluation," said Mazin. If circumstances beyond the employee's control, such as budget cuts or weather emergencies, hindered performance, add a note citing these factors.

...Let employees assess their own performance. Mazin advocated giving employees a blank copy of the performance review form prior to the session itself and asking them to complete it and return it before the scheduled session.

"In my experience, employees are harder on themselves than you are," she stated. That bodes well for managers who fear an employee will see anything less than a stellar rating as demotivating.

...Think of the formal review as a conversation. "A good performance appraisal is not a lecture. It is a conversation," stressed Mazin. To facilitate a dialogue with the employee, she suggested not having the completed review in sight at the start of the evaluation. Instead, first ask: How do you think you're performing? What aspects of your job do you really enjoy? Which aspects frustrate you? And so on. "Listen for not just words, but also the employee's tone of voice.

"Whatever you do, don't allow excuses to explain away performance shortcomings," said Mazin. "You're in control of the conversation, not the employee."

...Look to the future. It's imperative that the employee leaves the review session with a game plan for the coming weeks and months. Mazin noted the importance of setting dates by when goals should be achieved, as well as dates on which you'll follow-up to track progress.

For in-depth advice on how to conduct motivating performance appraisals, check out AHI's Complete Performance Appraisal Kit.

 

Related Topic(s): Dicipline & Performance Issues - Performance Appraisals