Helping people achieve success

No person can hope to be an all-rounder, let alone omni-competent, but they should know the essentials.”
(Indira Gandhi)

There is a range of advantages that result from appraisals, managing performance and employee engagement. The organization benefits from: regular, comparable, standard information about its personnel; the opportunity to tailor and focus development activities for individuals based on appraisal information (also a major advantage for the leader), and accurate planning of staffing levels and development activities.

The leader benefits from: the opportunity to build trust, to provide advice and feedback, to motivate and to develop an improved relationship with their team member. They also gain improved understanding of each individual’s development needs, strengths and weaknesses.

The individual benefits from an objective assessment of job performance, including their strengths and weaknesses; a focus on their development needs; an improved understanding of the needs of the job and their manager, and an improved relationship with their manager.

This toolkit explains how to manage and appraise performance and ensure that employees are fully engaged with their work.

Length: 22 pages

Contents:

The Benefits

Action Checklist: Ensuring Effective Appraisals
• Prepare for the appraisal
• Maintain an open, positive atmosphere
• Review performance and reach agreement
• Give feedback and deal with reactions
• Consider reward systems

Avoiding Problems – this includes avoiding potential pitfalls such as: too much emphasis on the appraisal process and documentation; dwelling too much on the past; being too directive, highly critical or being perceived as being critical; giving comments and feedback poorly, and misunderstanding what the team member has done (or failed to do).

Dos and Don’ts

Key Questions

Action Checklist: Reviewing Performance and Giving Feedback
• Prepare for the performance review
• Maintain an open, positive climate
• Review performance and reach agreement
• Find the best method of developing team members
• Give feedback: E² C ² (Example Effect Continue Change)
• Encourage others to give you feedback
• Provide feedback on observations
• Keep feedback non-judgmental
• Provide constructive criticism
• Concentrate on the positives
• Focus feedback on the value it has to the recipient
• Change people’s behaviour
• Treat each person as an individual
• Set realistic and challenging goals
• Follow the development cycle
• Take risks and encourage people to learn from mistakes
• Build positive relationships
• Avoid or overcome friction
• Influence and communicate
• Provide focused feedback
• Productive and unproductive behaviours when asserting your views
• Understand the benefits of coaching
• Choose the right coach
• Succeed as a coach
• Plan for the first coaching session
• Improve your coaching skills
• Use the GROW model
• Improve listening and empathy
• Use visioning
• Personal development planning

Action Checklist: Performance Improvement Planning
• Introduction
• Clarify
• Opinions
• Goals
• Support
• Agreement
• Revisit the benefits