68 / MANAGING A TEAM
Appraising performance
Assessing progress
Giving feedback in a formal way in
performance appraisal interviews
conveys to those you are managing
that you care about how they are doing.
Appraisals allow you to set goals and
monitor achievement, helping to
motivate your team to perform to a higher
level. They allow you to tell your team
how well each person is progressing,
which can reinforce good behavior and
extinguish dysfunctional behavior.
However, the interview itself should
be the final step in the performance
As a manager, you must ensure that objectives are met and also that
employees learn how to enhance their performance. Providing feedback
through the formal performance appraisal process can increase
productivity and morale and decrease absenteeism and staff turnover.
○
Focusing only on feedback
that relates to the person’s job
○
Providing both positive and
negative feedback
○
Sharing first-hand observations
as evidence
○
Being unafraid to criticize the
person constructively
○
Sharing your feelings about a
person’s personality
○
Focusing your comments only on
bad performance
○
Including rumors and allegations
in your appraisal
○
Avoiding offending the other person
by sugarcoating your criticism
CONDUCTING APPRAISAL INTERVIEWS
Dos Don’ts
Keep your appraisal goal-oriented, and make sure that the
feedback you provide is specific and gives information
APPRAISING PERFORMANCE / 69
ASK YOURSELF…
YES NOAm I prepared for the appraisal?
1 Have I carefully considered the employee’s strengths
as well as their weaknesses? ..........................................................
2 Can I substantiate, with specific examples, all points
of praise and criticism? ....................................................................
3 Have I thought about any problems that may occur
in the appraisal interview? ..............................................................
4 Have I considered how I will react to these problems? .................
appraisal process. Appraisal should be
a continuous process, starting with the
establishment and communication of
performance standards. Assess how
each individual is performing relative
to these standards, and use this
information to discuss a person’s
performance in the appraisal interview.
The appraisal interview
Start with the aim of putting the person
at ease. Most people don’t like to hear
their work criticized, so be supportive
and understanding and create a helpful
and constructive climate. Begin by
explaining what will transpire during the
appraisal and why. Keep your appraisal
goal-oriented, and make sure that your
feedback is specific. Where you can,
get the person’s own perceptions of
the problems being addressed—there
may be contributing factors that you are
unaware of. Encourage self-evaluation;
the person may acknowledge
performance problems independently,
thus eliminating your need to raise them.
They may also offer viable solutions.
Setting action points
At the end of the interview, ask the
recipient to rephrase the content of your
appraisal. This will indicate whether or
not you have succeeded in communicating
your evaluation clearly. Finish by drawing
up a plan of action. Draft a step-by-step
plan for improvement. Include in the plan
what needs to be done, by when, and how
you will monitor the person’s activities.
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