Managing People - The Key Ingredients of Successful Staff Appraisal

By Duncan Brodie

If you are a manager, chances are you will have to undertake staff appraisals or staff performance reviews on at least an annual basis. Done well, the se staff appraisals can be a great source of motivation. So what are the key ingredients of successful staff appraisal?

Ingredient 1: Planning

If you are going to have a successful staff appraisal you need to allow time for planning. This planning time needs to be made available to the manager who is carrying out the appraisal and the employee who is being appraised. By allowing the employee and yourself the time to prepare, you lay the foundations for a highly successful appraisal.

Ingredient 2: Listen more

If you are the manager who is carrying out the appraisal you should be listening more than you speak. As a rule of thumb I suggest that the person who is appraising spends about 70% of the time listening and 30% speaking.

Ingredient 3: Specific feedback

As the manager you will need to give feedback on what the employee is doing well and what they can do better. The more specific you are with your feedback the more benefit it will be for the employee. Vague feedback just creates confusion.

Ingredient 4: Comprehensive agenda

Make sure that your agenda is comprehensive. As I minimum I recommend that you include:

• The appraisal purpose
• Employee self assessment of performance
• Manager feedback on performance
• Development plans
• Career plans
• Objectives for next period

Ingredient 5: Sufficient time

Allow sufficient time for each employee's appraisal. I suggest blocking out two hours and making sure that you have some space in your calendar immediately before and after the appraisal. If you do not demonstrate the importance of the appraisal to employees, how can you expect them to take you seriously?

Bottom Line - Done well, appraisals can be a great source of motivation. What ingredients do you need to work on to more effectively appraise employees?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements (G&A) invites you to take the first step to being more effective as a manager or leader by signing up for his free e-course at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/resources.php