Performance Appraisals & Phrases For Dummies®

Chapter 8. Following Up

In This Chapter

• Using goals to motivate your employees

• Building your employees while building their performance

• Coaching your employees toward outstanding results

Some of the most important steps in the performance appraisal process are those that you take after you've completed the evaluation sessions with your employees. These follow-up actions are steppingstones to enhance your employees' performance, productivity, and development.

Note

Performance appraisal is no longer an annual stand-alone program. Instead, it's an integral component of the overall process of performance management, functioning as part of a five-step cycle:

1. Goal setting

   Managers and employees meet and jointly establish specific performance and developmental goals. These goals are based in part on data and ratings produced in the performance evaluations.

2. Ongoing coaching

   Managers provide intermittent formal and informal feedback, guidance, and support to their employees throughout the evaluation period.

3. Self-evaluations

   As the time for the annual appraisal approaches, the employees complete their own evaluations, only this time they know exactly how they've performed.

4. Performance evaluations.

   Managers review all the performance data and complete the formal evaluations of their employees.

5. Evaluation sessions.

   Managers meet with their employees individually to go over the formal performance evaluations, but the tension and apprehension are all but eliminated because there are no surprises.

After these ...