Struggling with your Performance Appraisal process?

Here are a few danger signals to watch out for! Perhaps you need to think about updating your current system or maybe even investing in a new one …

If you’re like most small to medium sized businesses, getting your employees to believe in your appraisal process can be a real challenge. So, why is this? Here are some signs to watch out for if performance appraisals aren’t achieving what they should be achieving.

• No one ever gets told they’ve done a good job – all people hear about is reasons why they’ve done a bad job.

• Your current appraisal system is just plain out of date – and everybody knows it.

• Your current system just doesn’t fit your business culture anymore.

• People wait until the last minute to do their reviews because they’re just seen to be an onerous and unnecessary task.

• Appraisers try to get their appraisals out of the way as quickly as they can.

• People get treated like employees, not individuals with strengths and areas for development.

• Appraisers don’t revisit past reviews or take account of the whole year’s work (only what they can remember which is probably the past couple of months at best).

• People treat appraisals as an annual event.

• Appraisers forget about ‘performance review’ during the year and have no arrangements made for informal performance discussions either side of the annual appraisal meeting.

• The appraisal process is just plain cumbersome and hard work to manage and complete. Perhaps it’s complicated too. Maybe it’s still paper-based.

• No one sees any link between the performance appraisal process and improved profitability and operational efficiency.

• Objectives aren’t set or monitored. Neither individuals nor teams know what they are expected to achieve during the year.

• People don’t feel that their opinions or ideas matter or are listened to.

• Appraisees don’t feel they get any say in how they’ve performed – only the appraiser’s opinion matters or is taken account of.

• Appraisals are seen as subjective, not objective with more than one person’s feedback (perhaps using 360) being taken account of.

And last but certainly not least …

• Employees just don’t see the benefit or what’s in it for them.