Evaluation Platforms Explained 101

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

But if you're a working manager you do not get much choice. You've got to do performance evaluations on your people using the system your organization has in place.

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

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

But the formal system is only included in the story. Usually the evaluation that happens there is like a report card. It's really a summary judgment of performance that took place for a length of time.

Give notice if you have to start documenting behavior. Generally speaking, your suggestion to change behavior or performance will be informal. That means you won't need to document. And most of the time your suggestion and coaching will contribute to improved behavior.

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

Then, if you must document, do some things. Keep good records of the performance or behavior that you're tracking. Be specific about what happened, when and 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 along the way has a couple of advantages. For starters, 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 and also 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 he or she has come up short. And you certainly will know what they have 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 dedicated to the 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.

Yet, if there weren't any surprises, what did they spend time on? They discussed growth as well as the future. That's more enjoyable and a lot more productive than going over what did and didn't happen since the last review.

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

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

Here is what to remember. The performance evaluation that makes a difference takes place every day, every time you encounter someone who works for you. If you take every chance to coach, counsel, encourage and correct your people, and if you document in which you must, there will be no surprises at evaluation time. Then you can use the evaluation time to help people grow and develop.