Trainism

How did you feel when the last time you were appraised?

Happy? sad? frustrated? uneasy? tongue tied?

Who do you think is responsible for making your appraisal good, bad or ugly?

• The Appraiser (who conducts the appraisal).
• The Appraise (who is being appraised).
• Or the Appraisal itself. This means if you have got a good rating the discussion would be good & in case it is not then the discussion will take a bad turn.

Have you ever received a bad appraisal from a good appraiser? Or

Have you ever received a good appraisal from a bad appraiser who just could not conduct the appraisal discussion well because of bad communication skills & thus left a sour taste of the entire episode?

After being in the training department for six years, I carry with me a very realistic picture of what appraisers know about appraisals. I have just met one manager out of all that I have known, who actually knew what he was talking about during the discussion. He had a very well planned agenda, a sense of direction & very smoothly transitioned from one point to the other touching every single topic good or bad thus leaving a satisfactory taste of the whole discussion.

I have also realized that people get promoted to higher positions, but they really don’t bother much about conducting a fair appraisal? To make it even more complicated, they are not willing to understand, don’t want to prepare, don’t know how to conduct it & last but not the least they care too hoots… It is just that appraisals are a process that every organization & team has to go follow… therefore it can’t be avoided.

So let’s get educated on conducting good appraisal. It is important to understand that Performance appraisals are a necessary part of business for measuring, motivating, acknowledging and improving the performance of employees. A formal performance appraisal is a healthy discussion between the manager and the employee. It is a process wherein performance for the last fiscal year is reviewed and goals are set for the next financial year.

IMPORTANT TIPS ON CONDUCTING GOOD APPRAISALS:

• Send a warm & a personalized meeting invite to your employee.
• Welcome the employee with a SMILE!!! Trust me it makes a difference.
• Make the employee comfortable when he/she enters the cabin.
• Choose a setting which is not too formal. A casual setup can do wonders.
• Start with personal life gradually setting the tone for the meeting.
• Throw open ended questions to the employee.
• Let the employee speak about his or her accomplishments a length & be a good and a patient listener. People love to talk about themselves.
• You must talk at lengths about the roles & responsibilities that were giving to the employee, or any major project that he/she was taking care of.
• Discuss performance areas in detail & close all gaps of communication & misunderstanding.
• Talk about process, situations & not people.
• Congratulate the employee for all the good jobs that he has done & give clear inputs on areas of improvement.
• Mirror & Match your pace with the employee. You might be on KRA 2, but the employee might b talking about his performance in KRA1.
• Write clear & measurable goals for the next fiscal year.
• Do not forget to ask “HOW YOU CAN HELP” to make him/her achieve the targets.
• From the formal talk again get back to casual talking.
• While parting give a token of appreciation to the person & thank him for being a part of your team. Remember not give the same gift to all, this should be a very personalized gift to your employee to make the bond stronger.

Conclude the meeting by writing down the minutes of the meeting, clarify expectations & goals. Keep in mind not to set unrealistic goals for the employee. Try to have a path that is PROGRESSIVE & not very HEROIC. Try your best to make it as meaningful, sincere & important as if it was “YOUR APPRAISAL WITH YOUR BOSS”.  I have seen my self growing tremendously from a good & a effective performance appraisal.