This is a repost from back in May of this year. Given the time of year, I thought it might be helpful to many of you as you are no doubt working on completing some kind of performance appraisal process. Take a look and comment on what you think. I would be interested in other methods you may be using, that you’ve found to be successful. You know what I mean … successful in actually improving a staff member’s performance over time.
In a post I wrote a while back, Performance Appraisals Are Overrated, I shared my experience with performance appraisals and how I’ve never seen one that’s worth the paper on which it’s written. I’ve never seen a performance appraisal method that actually helped a staff member improve her/his performance.
That’s not really true anymore, I guess. We have implemented a method around here that has worked pretty well over the last few years. At least it’s helped us to improve relationships between staff members and ensure there’s no unresolved conflict. Obviously that results in improved performance.
It wasn’t until I was responding to a comment a couple of days ago that I realized I hadn’t yet shared this resource. So, this morning our Staff Member Feedback Form is now available on my Resources Page.
You can checkout the form, but the idea is this: over time, overall staff member performance is improved through encouraging open and honest communication with one another as it relates to relationships. In our experience one of the biggest contributors to performance issues is unresolved conflict and an organizational culture that allows it to continue.
The emphasis is on the one on one conversations between staff members, not on “filling out the form.” The form should have bullets in each area that can be discussed during a one on one meeting, but not be a “book” that can stand on its own. Every staff member meets with every other staff member to discuss their feedback. It takes some time to get this done, but believe me it’s worth it.
This process combined with a good strategic planning process that includes “key tactics” that are the responsibility of each staff member, is all that’s needed to keep a staff moving forward in a healthy way.
What’s the best performance appraisal method you’ve ever seen?
Related Posts:
Performance Evaluations Are Overrated!
Anonymous Feedback – A Good or Bad Thing?
Strategic Planning Operating Procedure
Strategic Planning – Step By Step