Praise for Appraisals

Appraisals should be an opportunity for feedback, motivation boosts and sometimes even a pay rise - but in reality, they’re often as popular as an appointment with the dentist.

Instead of the performance enhancing sessions they were designed to be, a more familiar scenario for many employees is a dreaded yearly meeting with the boss to see how you are getting on and find out whether you’ll be able to afford a decent holiday this year.

A survey of 1,000 UK managers by the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) revealed that some performance appraisals are so badly handled that the system is not only failing both employees and their organisations, but they are having limited impact on business performance. And as research released in February 2008 cites workforce productivity as the number one concern for UK business in 2008 we think there’s a great deal to be said in favour of turning the spotlight on appraisals.

So where is it all going wrong?

The research, conducted by GfK NOP of over 2,000 employers on behalf of Manpower, reveals that nearly one quarter of employers (23%) consider improving staff productivity to be their top HR priority for 2008, compared to only seven per cent in 2007. Improving workforce productivity has risen up the HR agenda from joint fourth place in 2007 replacing staff retention as the number one concern. Bearing in mind that the appraisal is now one of the most widely used management tools in businesses today, where is it all going wrong?

Ideally, [managers] should use the appraisal to help the employee see how their contribution adds value to the business as a whole

In theory, performance appraisal is a good opportunity to give feedback to employees and motivate them to improve their performance still further. In practice, appraisals can all too frequently be stale, artificial or overloaded with bureaucracy.

“A strong appraisal system assumes that managers have the motivation and ability to make performance reviews work, by translating strategic goals into operational practice,” says author of the IES report Marie Strebler. “Ideally, they should use the appraisal to help the employee see how their contribution adds value to the business as a whole. Too often, however, they are rushed discussions where performance ratings are handed out, where petty lapses in performance are picked upon, or where performance-related pay is awarded.”

But at the opposite end of the scale to the boss who just talks through the job and meets out any rewards, there are also the over-zealous managers who are trying to play devil’s advocate in too many areas, adds Strebler. And while there is nothing business-unfriendly about identifying staff training needs, providing career counselling, spotting the high fliers of the future and bringing the poor performers to task, trying to fit everything in all at once can often be the key to why appraisals are failing to deliver what they set out to do.

So what is the solution?

Experts have come up with a number of theories including conducting mini-appraisals throughout the year instead of a one-off session, or getting employees to arm themselves with advanced information - such as what might be asked and anything you might need to bring to the meeting - to make the appraisal productive. To achieve this, each organisation should have a business strategy that can be backed up with a clarification of an individual’s role within the business, the skills that are expected of them and what action is needed to deliver the objectives of their role.

And we think that you, as an employee, should speak up about your appraisals. If you value your career you deserve to have feedback on a regular basis. Whether or not your employer has a formal system for appraisal you should feel comfortable requesting a performance appraisal meeting with your boss.

Here are our tips for a successful appraisal:

• Where possible get involved in designing and implementing the appraisal process
• Make sure you understand the links between your performance goals and the organisational goals
• Make sure you know what your boss intends to discuss with you - neither of you want any surprises, ideally
• Set time aside to prepare for the appraisal
• Know what agreed actions result from the appraisal

If you don’t relish your appraisals, take some comfort in the fact that many managers don’t find them easy either. But no matter how much they are dreaded, they can be crucial for your development and motivation and vital for the success of a healthy business. And in case your boss needs a gentle reminder… one survey suggested that 40% of workers would look for a new job if they felt that their appraisal was not taken seriously.

If you’ve got something to share with us about your appraisal experiences, please tell us below.

Mark Beale, one of our readers, has written an article in response to this article.