Performance appraisal tips for employees

Basics of performance appraisals:

• Also called: Performance appraisal interview, review, performance evaluation, personnel rating, merit rating, employee appraisal, and employee evaluation.

• Purpose of performance appraisal: Regular review process that evaluates job performance of an employee and is part of career development. A performance appraisal affects the status of employee, including retention, termination, promotion, transfer, salary increase or decrease, or admission into a training program. Results in formal documentation, which demonstrates basis for personnel decisions and shows compliance with U.S. Government regulations.

• 2 main approaches:

  • Traditional: Concerned with promotion, separation, and transfer decisions; feedback to employee; reward decisions; training and development, etc.; often tied to salary review

  • Developmental: Compared to traditional approach, more forward-looking and more concerned with employee as individual; includes traditional purposes plus focus on employee’s ambition, organizational interest in employee development, communication between employee and management, and employee satisfaction and encouragement

• Involves evaluation/rating system: Perfomance appraisals use various types, such as:

  • Management by objective (MBO)

  • 360 degree appraisal

  • Behavioral-anchored

  • Checklist

  • Forced choice

  • Forced distribution

  • Graphic rating

  • Ranking

• Boss’ role:

  • Translates organizational goals into individual job objectives

  • Communicates management expectations

  • Provides feedback to employee on performance

  • Coaches employee on how to achieve objectives

  • Identifies employee strengths and weaknesses

  • Determines developmental needs/activities/programs

• Know your organization’s approach to performance appraisals: Although there are differences among organizations, the performance appraisal is the formal tool with which bosses and management assess employees. However, it’s also wise to understand the informal process or how your organization’s political culture works. That way, you’ll understand the entire picture. For example, when you grasp both processes, you’ll know why some people get ahead faster than others—even if both individuals have excellent performance appraisal interviews or reviews.

Tips on assessing boss’ perspective:

• Your successes: Before you meet, examine how you’ve performed during the past year. Have you completed your tasks and done so on time? Did you work on areas that needed improvement? Did you handle something exceptionally well?

• Your failures: Conversely, did you mishandle a task, a situation, or a person?

Assessing your purpose:

• Stay in place: If you’d like to stay in your job and think that your boss would be pleased to have you continue in your current role, your purpose would be to let him know that. Of course, you’d still ask how you could further enhance your performance.

• Move up or on: If you’re ready to move up in his department or to another area of the company, your purpose in this performance appraisal interview would be to discuss this change with him. If you want to move ahead at your company, you’d discuss the position you’re interested in and ask your boss to recommend you for this opportunity. If your boss knows the person who would be your future supervisor, most likely, he would call him. If he doesn’t already know this individual, he would write an email or other document recommending you. In this document, your boss would describe your performance in your current position, his opinion of your talents and temperament, and why he thinks that you’d be a good fit with the position you hope to move on to.

Tips on anticipating questions and how you’d respond: Once you’ve assessed your boss’ perspective, you’ll be able to anticipate the majority of questions that he’d ask and also prepare the gist (main point) of your replies.

Identify areas for improvement: If you’ve anticipated your boss’ mindset, you’ll know the areas in which you need to improve. That way, you’ll be ready—and willing—to discuss these needs with your boss.

Develop next steps: While you’re preparing for your meeting, think about specific ways in which you could enhance your performance.

Follow up with boss: Throughout the year, periodically follow up by email or in person with your boss. Let him know how you’re progressing with your self-improvement plan. That way, your next performance appraisal will be successful.