Appraising Performance

Appraisals allow you to set goals and monitor achievement

As a manager, you must ensure that objectives are met and also that employees learn how to enhance their performance. Providing structured feedback through the formal performance appraisal process can increase productivity and morale and decrease absenteeism and staff turnover.

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 each individual how well they're progressing, which can reinforce good behavior and and extinguish dysfunctional behavior.

However, the interview itself should be the final step in the performance appraisal process. Appraisal should be a continuous process, starting with the establishment and communication of performance standards. Continually asses how each individual is performing relative to these standards, and use this information to discuss a person's performance with them in the appraisal interview.

ACTION POINT: When giving your appraisal, avoid absolutes such as "always' and "never"--if the person you are appraising can introduce one exception to your statement, it can destroy the entire statement's validity and damage your credibility.