Appraisal – fit for purpose?

A contribution from a guest writer, Mark Beale, a leadership development specialist, in response to Praise for Appraisals in our last issue.

The article, Praise for Appraisals,  recently published in this magazine, provided some interesting reading. It outlined a range of issues with appraisals and suggested some tips for successful appraisal.

Before organisations consider how to develop or amend their appraisal systems, they should first ask themselves why they need an appraisal system at all. Perhaps after asking the right questions organisations may well decide that they should not have one.

The common arguments for an appraisal system are that it:

• provides an opportunity for feedback
• allows people to plan goals for the year
• produces a development plan for the year
• allows for the formulation of an organisational training plan
• allows people to ask questions
• encourages a feedback culture
• allows managers a set time to talk with their team members

In reality it is often viewed by users as:

• a chore that takes too much time and effort
• too many pages to complete
• too little time to do it
• a reduction of the team member often to a number
• applied differently by different managers
• a waste of time

Some personal experiences include one manager telling me that on the rating scale of 1(high) to 5(low) she never gives 1s. Immediately someone is discriminated against. I have worked with managers who at appraisal time comment that they had better get the previous year’s appraisals out of the way first! Some people I have worked with on appraisals say that when things go wrong it is the fault of the people using it, not the appraisal system itself. My response? You cannot separate people from the system. They are an essential element of the system.

Performance appraisal, as defined in “Praise for Appraisals,” is one of the most widely used management tools in business today. May I suggest that an appraisal system is an HR construct that often proves ineffective and inefficient? Perhaps it is time to apply appraisal to the appraisal system! If we evaluated our appraisal systems the way they are meant to evaluate people. I suggest that they would be found wanting.

As I work and advise organisations, one of the biggest issues is chasing up managers who have not done them. So is it worth the effort?

Most organisation believe that it will be a valuable tool to help the poorer managers engage with their team members. What is a tool? A tool is an instrument that helps you create something else. It is not an end in itself. Often, the system becomes the end and the reasons for its introduction are not re-visited.

Let’s look at things differently

The first step in any situation is to go back to purpose. What are you trying to achieve from having- an appraisal system? These are the common arguments in favour of appraisal that I listed above:

• provides an opportunity for feedback – Does your organisation only want feedback once a year?
  Do we need a formal appraisal process for this? Can’t good managers do this anyway?
• allows people to plan goals for the year – Do we need a formal appraisal process for this? Can’t good managers do this anyway?
• produces a development plan for the year – Do we need a formal appraisal process for this? Can’t good managers do this anyway?
• allows for the formulation of an organisational training plan – Does your organisation really understand L&D and how dynamic L&D is in our ever-changing environments or is it stuck in last century and sees only training?
• allows people to ask questions – Do we need a formal appraisal process for this? Can’t good managers do this anyway?
• encourages a feedback culture – Do we need a formal appraisal process for this? Can’t good managers do this anyway?
• allows managers a set time to talk with their team members – Do we need a formal appraisal process for this? Can’t good managers do this anyway?

So what is the common theme emerging?

If organisations put greater investment into an effective Leadership Development process, there would be no need for an appraisal process. Effective leaders do all the above tasks on a regular, often daily basis. They engage with their team members and can tell you at any point in time what their team members are working on, how they are performing, any issues they or the team are having, what learning processes are being undertaken, planned or required, what motivates each of their team members, the skills and interests that they have, their potential for other opportunities.

Good managers do not need an event like appraisal to do all of these things with their team members. A well-planned and resourced leadership development process – NOT program – will give you all the things you are seeking from appraisal, and more. Which is the better investment?

Look at the list of reasons your organisation has an appraisal system, if you know the reasons that is. Ask yourself how well they are being achieved and at what cost. Then ask yourself if that investment is not better made in developing or improving your leadership development process.

And how do you develop an effective leadership development process? Ask me another time………

Mark Beale
L&D/Leadership Development
07943357738