Performance appraisal: Manager's guide to performance review

Name: Performance appraisal: Manager's guide to performance review
Rating: 4.2 (522 reviews)

Discover how to encourage development so that each person in your team achieves their full potential.

Created bySkill Boosters

Last updated 4/2017

English

What you'll learn

structure a successful appraisal interview
identify and use competencies
set SMART targets
give constructive feedback
identify development needs
deal with difficult situations

Course content

4 sections • 21 lectures • 38m total length

Introduction to feedback skills1:42
The purpose of feedback is to help the person to whom it’s directed. Feedback needs to be given in a way that the person understands, accepts and can do something about it. This part of the course covers the skills that an appraiser needs to follow to make feedback effective.

It features a dramatised appraisal between a manager (Tony) and a junior member of his staff (Nita). Through commentary and graphical analysis of the techniques Tony uses, this section covers the six key principles of effective feedback
Be balanced, be tentative and give praise2:05

Be tentative: try not to impose your own views on the appraisee, instead use questions to help them analyse how well they’ve performed and if necessary how they might improve. Being tentative does not mean being weak – on the contrary it involves gaining the skills and confidence to put the onus on the appraisee: asking questions which help them to work out for themselves what the problems are. Keep an open mind. Don’t assume your own diagnosis or assessment is accurate. Take care to check the other person’s perceptions before leaping in with your own views.

Be Balanced: cover both good and less positive aspects of performance; and be open-minded in evaluating different sources of evidence.
Use open questions1:36
Asking open questions rather than giving your own opinion will help you uncover the appraisees own feelings about their performance.
Be concrete, but respectful1:43
Be concrete: rather than making generalisations, discuss behaviours and examples; in other words where you have concrete evidence.
Be respectful: focus your feedback on the person’s performance not their personality. Another way of being respectful is to listen to what the person says and to show that you’re listening by reflecting back what they’ve said. This is known as active listening. Reflecting, and summarising, also enables you to check that you’ve understood what’s been said.
Be constructive, be realistic and problem solve4:04
Be constructive: don’t dwell on things that have gone wrong – instead, look how things can be done better in the future. If the appraisee is not able to offer suggestions on how less positive aspects can be improved, put forward suggestions yourself.

Be realistic: make sure that the things that are agreed upon are within the appraisee’s power to achieve; and remember to limit the number of areas for improvement that reflect the appraisee’s current performance limitations to two or three.
Feedback section summary1:51
Be concrete: rather than making generalisations, discuss behaviours and examples; in other words where you have concrete evidence.

Be Balanced: cover both good and less positive aspects of performance; and be open-minded in evaluating different sources of evidence.

Be respectful: focus your feedback on the person’s performance not their personality.

Another way of being respectful is to listen to what the person says and to show that you’re listening by reflecting back what they’ve said. This is known as active listening.

Reflecting, and summarising, also enables you to check that you’ve understood what’s been said.

Be constructive: don’t dwell on things that have gone wrong – instead, look how things can be done better in the future. If the appraisee is not able to offer suggestions on how less positive aspects can be improved, put forward suggestions yourself.

Be realistic: make sure that the things that are agreed upon are within the appraisee’s power to achieve; and remember to limit the number of areas for improvement that reflect the appraisee’s current performance limitations to two or three.

Setting the agenda0:54
To help the appraisee prepare, they will need advance notice of the topics for discussion and the sort of evidence they need to think about.
Setting the tone1:04
To achieve a good start:
establish the purpose of the interview
explain the purpose
encourage two-way discussion
Put the onus on the appraisee2:32
It's important to learn the skills and confidence to put the onus on the appraisee: asking questions which help them to work out for themselves what the problems are.
Use open question to check where there is agreement1:16
Use open questions to check where there is agreement and disagreement.
Phases of questioning2:35
Use exploratory questions followed by a series of focussed questions to help the appraisee see where their performance needs improvement. At the appropriate moment get them to confirm their agreement by asking a closed question.
Problem solving4:16
The appraiser and the appraisee share responsibility for solving the problem. The main aim is to encourage the appraisee to come up with their own ideas – they are much more likely to be committed to following these – through a solution that they’ve played a key part in creating.
Training and development0:54
Think about ways to build on strong areas of performance, and ways to help improve on areas where the performance has fallen short. You also need to think about the longer term and the appraisee’s career development. What do they need to make progress? What is the likely path for their future development? How do you think they see this – are they particularly keen to get ahead and, if so, where do their aspirations lie?

Don’t place too much emphasis on formal training. This can sometimes be the best option, but often it is better to think about what can be done within the framework of the individual’s job and supervision.
Set SMART objectives1:10
Setting Objectives – The key to measuring an individual’s results is to set them effective (‘SMART’) objectives in the first place.
Ending the discussion0:59
When you feel the conversation has reached its natural conclusion it's time to signal this by asking the appraisee if there is anything else they would like to add.
Stages of the interview - section summary0:53
Section summary and recap of key learning points.

Appraisee blames others.mov2:15
The first big trap here is to seem to agree. There are two sides to every story and without further enquiries the appraiser is probably not in a position to assess the truth of the situation.

The second mistake would be to ignore it and say nothing – this won’t resolve the issue at all.
Appraisee loses their temper2:01
Even if you feel angry or threatened, keep your emotions in check – if you try to say anything or respond in kind, it’s very likely to inflame the situation even more.
Appraisee disappointed with promotion1:52
It’s best not to agree with the perceived injustice – this will only make them feel more aggrieved. Nor is it good to ask them to focus on the task in hand – they won’t really concentrate on this when they’re so distracted by missing out on promotion.
Appraisee wants to move up1:36
Sometimes you’ll have an individual who is performing adequately but has reached their ceiling. They have little if any chance of progression.

It would be unwise to assume or even worse to state that there’s absolutely no possibility of future progression. Nor would it be good to give the appraisee false hopes.
Appraisee upset with payrise1:05
Performance-related pay schemes vary from organisation to organisation. But, in many, the appraiser has some input in determining merit through their assessment on the individual’s performance.

When pay is linked to performance, the accurate assessment of that performance – whether it be how objectives were met or levels of competency shown, becomes even more important.

Requirements

No materials required

Description

In some organisations the periodic formal meeting between a manager and a member of staff is called a performance appraisal. In others it’s just called an appraisal; or an appraisal review or a performance review – the terms vary.

The aims of these reviews can also vary. They can include: improving performance; assessing achievements against objectives; reviewing levels of competence; solving problems; developing the employee’s skills and career; and setting fresh objectives.

The aims of the appraisal tend to reflect the priorities of the organisation. It is important, though, that the appraisers who are being trained reflect on what they want to get from appraisals and on what they think appraisees will want.

There has to be something in the appraisal process that will be seen to be of benefit to the participants – failure to recognise this has probably been one of the root causes of the lack of success of so many appraisal systems.

Appraisals can be a cause of anguish for both the person being appraised and the appraiser. But the good news is that properly conducted appraisals can be hugely rewarding for both parties.

Achieving higher performance does not happen automatically; success depends on the human skills of the person at the sharp end – the appraiser. Very often – with the best intentions – managers get appraisals wrong. This training resource has been especially designed to help them get it right!

Based on accumulated research findings and practical experience from across the world. This Skill Boosters course complements widely differing appraisal processes by concentrating on the universal aims of appraisal – making a fair and accurate assessment of performance and carrying out the appraisal discussion in a way that motivates appraisees rather than turning them off.

Properly conducted appraisals can be hugely rewarding to both appraiser and appraisee, whatever their level or organisation. This resource will help appraisers to discover how they can encourage development so that each person in their team achieves their full potential.

This Skill Boosters course uses dramatised scenarios to highlight the key learning points and provides opportunities for managers to observe best practice in planning for and conducting the appraisal meeting.

Who this course is for:

This training resource is designed for use with managers and team leaders with staff responsibilities. It will benefit those who are new to appraisals as well as those with more experience who need to refresh their skills in appraisal feedback.

Performance appraisal: Manager's guide to performance review

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Feedback Skills6 lectures • 13min

Stages of the interview10 lectures • 17min

Dealing with difficult situations5 lectures • 9min

Assessment quiz0

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: