Performance Appraisal Training

Shickel CorporationFull Program 2012

What you need to know before you get started:What does it take?

Fairness: You must be unprejudiced and objective.

Courage: All the training in the world would be useless if managers lack the courage to make tough calls.

What you need to know before you get started:

Assumptions that will assist you in being fair:

You will never have all the facts.

The bar is rising every year.

People genuinely want to know what their boss thinks of their performance.

What you need to know before you get started:

• Assumptions that will assist you in being fair:

• People are capable of handling the truth, even when the truth is unpleasant

• It is better to demand more from people than to settle for whatever level of performance they choose to give.

• Measurability is NOT the goal, verifiability is.

Watch out for “Rating Errors”:Contrast Effect

Halo/Horns Effect

Similar-to-Me Effect

Central Tendency Effect

•Attribute Bias

•Recency Effect

•Stereotyping

Appraisal Interview

Interview

Preparation

Documentation

Writing

Performance

Appraisal

Ways we document performance:

• T-sheets

• Critical Incidents

• Objective Data

• Behavioral Observations

• Other Important Forms:

• Position guides

• Situation Reports

• Samples of Work

Documentation is key:Your appraisal is only as strong as your

documentation.

The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion.

Appraisal Interview

Interview

Preparation

Documentation

Writing

Performance

Appraisal

Writing the Performance Appraisal:

Where do I start?The end, of course!Think about the individual and what

the core messages are that you want to communicate.

What is the central point of the review?

Remember the ways it will be used: Promotions, raises, determining

training needs, goal setting, and career development.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:

Identify two or three key things that you want the person to remember 6-12 months after this appraisal has been given.

Before you start filling in the form, determine the precise message you want that person to get.

If you don’t know the central message you want to send, they won’t either.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:

Whose appraisal should I start with?

It is easiest to start with the high performers’ appraisals.

These employees’ performances will be the easiest to justify.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:

How should I use the self appraisals?

Do your ratings before looking at the employee’s self appraisal, then go back and compare ratings to avoid being biased by employee’s ratings.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:

Completing the form:

The form is a tool to assist you in validating, supporting, and explaining your appraisal of the individual’s performance.

You manage the tool, not the other way around.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:Completing the form

Part 1: Key Behaviors

Mark which behaviors you thought were especially applicable for future reference.

Be able to support your ratings with examples.

The lower or higher you rate, the more you should support it.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:Completing the form

Part 2: Accomplishments

Review the comments, goals and objectives set from the last appraisal.

Refer to documentation to recall any significant events that involved the individual.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:

Completing the form

Part 3: Key Messages

Review the core messages you want the individual to remember.

Make sure there is consistency between overall and individual ratings.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:Completing the form

Part 4: Signatures

These are important to provide closure and confirm receipt.

Signature only acknowledges content reviewed not agreement.

If someone refuses to sign, make a notation of the place, time & date.

Writing the Performance Appraisal:Completing the form

Part 5: Developmental Plan

Now is the time to reinforce two or three critical points you wanted to get across.

Writing objectives (SMART)SpecificMeasurable (Verifiable)AttainableReasonable

TimelyAre they mutually agreed upon?

Writing the Performance Appraisal:Completing the form

Last Step:

Put the appraisal away for a couple days and then look at it again before turning it in to Human Resources to make sure it says what you intended it to say.

Appraisal Interview

InterviewPreparation

Documentation

Writing

Performance

Appraisal

Setting the stage for the appraisal interview:

Preparation

Preparation is key to success.

Set up a time with individual in advance that is mutually convenient so they, and you, have enough time to prepare.

If your office provides privacy, then it is OK. Otherwise, choose a more private location such as the conference room.

Setting the stage for the appraisal interview:

Preparation

Do the interview in a business setting.

Assemble all materials you will be using a day or two in advance.

Write down a plan for what you want to say and accomplish in the meeting.

Setting the stage for the appraisal interview:

Preparation

Remember the 2 or 3 key messages you want the individual to understand.

Retention from appraisals is low. Do a mental walk through before the

interview.

Prepare physically

Setting the stage for the appraisal interview:

Preparation

Prepare for a productive discussion:

Identify the gap.

Why the problem must be solved.

Determine the consequences.

Determine the appropriate actions.

Scrubs Clip

• Humor is fine, but be careful about using sarcasm and keep all comments appropriate and professional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09bp__4Muh8&feature=related

• This process should be completed with both manager and employee working together to get the best result

• The manager should be prepared & organized with the appropriate materials to make the process run smoothly.

Always Be Honest but TactfulUnnecessary to be brutal, but honesty is crucial• “He has the wisdom of youth, and the energy of old age.”

• “Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.”

• “This man is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot”

• This person is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definitely won't-be.

• "Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.”

• "Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for it."

Appraisal Interview

Interview

Preparation

Documentation

Writing

Performance

Appraisal

Conducting the appraisal interview:

Getting Started

Have a plan.

Small talk.

Recommend that you start by letting the co-worker tell you about their appraisal.

Begin the review with covering areas

of agreement.

Conducting the appraisal interview:

Continuing

Next, if there is a specific performance problem to address, do so.

Give the final rating which should not be a surprise at this point.

Set future objectives.

Wrap up appraisal.

Appraisal Interview

Interview

Preparation

Documentation

Writing

Performance

Appraisal

COMMUNICATION

The Connector: Communication

What is communication?You talk, I listen. I talk, you listen.

Communication is the two way transfer and understanding of information.

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What I thought I said.

What I thought I heard.

What I actually said.

What I actually heard.

Barriers

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Communication BarriersWhat kinds of things or issues can be

barriers to communication?

Physical barriers

Emotional / Psychological

Semantics

How Am I Doing Cliphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZUoF0r_l

cc

Set up specified meeting schedule, do not do it spontaneously.

Refresh yourself on a few personal details about the co-worker you will be appraising, so they know you take them and the appraisals seriously.

Provide specific examples , evidence to back up your opinion or claims.

Communication:How do you get someone to

talk?

Ask the right kind of questions.Open ended

Don’t ask questions that are:LeadingLoadedStressful

Communication:How do you get someone to

talk?

Encourage the person to talk by actively listening to what they have to say:

LookNodVerbal EncouragersPause

CommunicationHow do you tell someone things they

don’t want to hear?We always need to keep focused on the

dual objective of improving the performance and maintaining the relationship.

Behavior not PersonAcceptance not Denial

CommunicationWhen you tell someone things they don’t want to hear, people get defensive, stressed, or feel pressured, there are usually two responses:

CommunicationHow do you tell someone things they

don’t want to hear?

When defensiveness arises, active listening is the most effective strategy for coping with the response. Add one more listening technique:

Check and reflect

Communication

Rules for surviving the battle:

If the employee is in fight mode, keep your head and be cool.

The worst thing you can do is respond to an angry person in anger

Use the active listening techniques.

Let them get it all off their chest and then check and reflect.

CommunicationRules for surviving the battle:

Once they have calmed down, begin by finding areas of agreement.

Whenever they interrupt or get defensive, go back to active listening mode and start again.

Remember James 1:19 (NIV). “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

Communication

If the employee is in flight mode, stay calm again and hang in there.

Use active listening to draw them out

into a discussion of their true feelings.

Pause and encourage them to express their disappointment.

CommunicationIf the employee is in flight mode:

Ask open ended question to gain an understanding of their reactions and feelings

. Be patient.

Seek first to understand, and then to be

understood.

Appraisal Interview

Interview

Preparation

Documentation

Writing

Performance

Appraisal

COMMUNICATION

Performance Management Cycle

Performance Appraisal

Documentation

Adjusting to change

CoachingDocumentation

Adjusting to change

Coaching

Documentation

Performance Management Cycle

Coaching

Regular planned interactions with a purpose to help the employee perform at higher levels.

Performance Management Cycle

Adjusting to change:

The organization is not static and neither

should be performance goals.

Goals need to be current to have any meaning or purpose.

Managers have to keep the goals of their staff accessible and review them periodically themselves and with the co-worker affected.

Performance Management Cycle

DocumentationContinuously keeping up with T-sheets and other

forms of documentation year round. Makes it easier to manage and see your progress.

Performance Management Cycle

Why go through all this?

Is it really worth the effort?