Appraisals—Make Them (Almost) Painless

I’m a new manager and have to give each of my direct reports a performance appraisal in September. I’ve usually dreaded those I received, and would like to make the experience more positive for my people. Is that possible? —Simone B.

It’s not only possible, but conducting a positive, supportive appraisal is the only way that really helps an employee grow—and improve performance. Let’s start with some foundation ideas to build on:

Positive reinforcement is the most effective

form of feedback. Think how you’d like to get feedback from a friend on a behavior you either want to start or stop doing. You want to hear statements like, “I can see you’ve made some progress in losing weight—not as much as you wanted—but I can see real progress. Have you thought about how you could lose even more?”

Criticism is the least effective.

It overpowers all other feedback. You wouldn’t want to hear, “Boy, you don’t look like you’ve lost a pound. Still into the milk and cookies, huh?” It’s not only hurtful; it doesn’t work.. Negative performance appraisals have the same negative effect.

Use a 4:1 ratio:

Give four positives for every negative. Studies show that this ratio must be present for any effective relationship. Unfortunately, many performance appraisals deliver just the opposite: four negatives for every positive. Let’s make it even more specific. If the performance appraisal lasts one hour, 48 minutes should be focused on telling the employee what was done well—and only 12 minutes on what went wrong.

Timing is critical;

it makes the difference in your being seen as giving feedback or criticism. When someone does something well, praise it right away. If they made a mistake, take time to calm down, focus your message, and deliver it in a helpful way.

If the mistake is serious and your stepping in is critical, you might say something like, “Do it this way, and let’s talk about it later.”

Don’t mix positive and negative feedback.

You lessen the impact and confuse the employee. Stay focused on the purpose of the meeting. Praise first, but then confirm your key message: “Marion, we need to talk about the cost overruns you’ve had—some as much as 25%—and we have to correct it. What do you think is the problem?”

Be firm, fair and consistent.

Follow the same process with all employees. Take circumstances into account. Distinguish one situation from another--one person from another.

Encourage best performance through guidance and sound leadership. Position yourself as the coach, partner, helper, not the finger-pointing disciplinarian.

Keep thorough, accurate, records,

so you can base the appraisal on facts,not just feelings or seat-of-the pants observations.

Treat people as you'd like to be treated.

If you were receiving the appraisal you are delivering to the employee—you were on the receiving end— how would you like it conducted?

Some Don'ts:

1. Don’t neglect to appraise performance regularly: each day and week informally; at least twice a year formally.

2. Don’t stand by and watch people deteriorate. Catch the problem early—it’s much easier to correct.

3. Don’t let personal biases or your emotions affect your reactions to individuals or the actions you take during the appraisal.

Some Final Guidelines

The employee must understand performance standards and accept them. If not, no coaching can occur. And just complying with the standard won’t deliver major behavior improvement. The minimum is accountability—expectation. The goal should be commitment. The employee must also see the real value and benefit of your appraisal.

If there’s no change in behavior, improvement in skills or acceptance of new ideas, no learning has taken place.

At the same time, employees must take responsibility for their own growth. They must see the process as a joint project that will diagnose the problems, consider alternate solutions, and develop workable ways of dealing with them. And there must be a climate of confidence. The employee must respect your integrity and capability as a leader. You as the supervisor must respect the employee’s integrity, and have confidence in his or her ability to do the job. If you don’t, it will be a lose/lose situation for you both.

With the right attitude and process, you can make the employee appraisal a positive, growing experience instead of merely burdensome paperwork. And once you’re committed to ongoing (daily, weekly, monthly) review of how the employee is progressing—and of your working, coaching, helping relationship—the appraisal will become (almost) painless. For both of you.