What Everyone Ought To Know About Company Evaluations

Nobody much likes performance evaluation systems. Managers find them unworkable and uncomfortable. Workers dread them. And lots of experts think we should scrap them altogether.

But in case you are a working manager you do not get much choice. You have got to do performance evaluations on your people using the system your organization has in place.

Start by understanding that you'll find really two different things which go by the name, "performance evaluation." One of those things is your organization's formal performance appraisal process.

Do what ever you must to take care of your organization's evaluation system. It's important to work with whatever system your organization has devised. Someday you may be able to change it, but not now. Devote your time and energy to making the system deliver good results.

Though the formal system is only a component of the story. Usually the evaluation that happens there is like a report card. It's a summary judgment of performance that took place over a length of time.

Give notice if you have to start documenting behavior. In general, your suggestion to change behavior or performance will be informal. That suggests you won't need to document. And quite often your suggestion and coaching will bring about improved behavior.

But sometimes you'll need to let folks realize that they're not doing well enough. If they keep doing what they are doing, you'll have to start documenting their behavior. Let them know before your start.

Then, if you need to document, do some things. Keep good records of the performance or behavior that you're tracking. Be specific about what happened, when and Link Home Page where.

Keep good records of your counseling meetings with your subordinate. What did you say? What did he or she say? How did you agree that things would change?

Making small course corrections on the way has a few of advantages. Foremost, small corrections are far simpler to make than big ones, so your odds of a successful outcome go up.

Second, by making small corrections and documenting your counsel as well as your subordinate's behavior, you have got the issue on the table. In the event the time arrives for formal performance evaluation, your subordinate will know where she or he has come up short. And you certainly will know what they've got to say about how they're doing. No surprises.

Take enough time in the formal session. In one organization where I did research we compared the time that top supervisors devoted to the total annual performance appraisal meeting to the time that other supervisors took. The very best supervisors spent almost 2 times as long within the formal session as their less-effective peers.

But, if there weren't any surprises, what did they spend time on? They talked about growth and the future. That is more enjoyable as well as more productive than going over what did and didn't happen since the last review.

Make agreements on the will happen next. Be sure you leave the formal performance evaluation session with a clear plan for how your subordinate will develop through the next period and what you are going to do to help.

Set milestones for your agreements. Determine that will do what and exactly what the deadlines are. Determine how performance should change.

Here is what to remember. The performance evaluation that makes an impact takes place daily, every time you encounter somebody that works for you. If you take every chance to coach, counsel, encourage and correct your people, and if you document where you must, there will be no surprises at evaluation time. Then you can use the evaluation time to help people grow and develop.