I had an email from a concerned client about comments her manager had written on her performance review/appraisal document.
I suggested she send the document through for me to see. When I read it I understood immediately why she was so concerned.
What He Had Written The comments he had made were opinions and in one case 'facts' that looked like evidence of poor performance, but that wasn't when the background was explained.
Two Sides When I help clients to deal with poor performance in their employees one of the first things I ask about is their performance reviews or appraisals. Most of the time, even with performance issues that have been going on for years, there is no mention of this in the written records. (In one case 22 years!)
This usually suggests that the issues have not been tackled or dealt with. It can also mean that the employee has been completely unaware of the problem themselves, so has not done anything to improve.
In several cases (in particular one of bullying that had been going on for 14 years) I have seen appraisal forms speaking of 'exemplary performance' and given high performance ratings.
What Are The Comments For? To answer this question we need to know what they are going to be used for. For this we really need to go back to the purpose of the appraisal itself.
In my view the purpose of the appraisal or performance review is to put the individual in the best possible position to achieve the following year's objectives. In order to do that the individual needs to know what he or she needs to do differently (if anything).
Of course, in many organizations the review is also part of the information used to assess pay and bonus payments.
So, should the manager's remarks be a vague set of general opinions or should they be factual details of the individual's achievements against their objectives?
Homework Clearly any comments need to be factual; what happened, what was achieved. Unfortunately this means the manager does need to do their homework properly. In the example I saw recently, he clearly hadn't.
During The Year To fill out the forms effectively it's much easier if you keep records during the year of achievements against the objectives and agree them with your team as you go. Then, at the end of the year, the job is virtually done - and much more accurate.
It seems to me that any manager who does not do this and fills in forms with vague opinions and sweeping, unsubstantiated comments should themselves receive poor ratings on their performance review or appraisal documentation.
How It Happens There are several reasons. Poor levels of skill, poor training, lack of understanding as to why it's so important to get it right and one very silly one:
Badly Designed Forms If you have a box on an appraisal or performance review form labeled 'Manager's Comments' that is exactly what you will get. Comments. Simply re-labeling this box can give you much better results. Just calling the box 'Achievements against objectives' or giving an instruction 'Identify what was achieved' can dramatically increase the quality of the response.
In Summary This is a task that should be easy and straightforward if it is done properly and managers keep their records up to date and agreed with the individual during the year. They 'comments' just need to be statements describing what has been achieved. Being able to do this is a (very) basic management skill. If a manager is incapable of doing this, his or her skill level needs to be questioned.
If managers know what information is required it will make it much easier for them to write something useful.
I suggested she send the document through for me to see. When I read it I understood immediately why she was so concerned.
What He Had Written The comments he had made were opinions and in one case 'facts' that looked like evidence of poor performance, but that wasn't when the background was explained.
Two Sides When I help clients to deal with poor performance in their employees one of the first things I ask about is their performance reviews or appraisals. Most of the time, even with performance issues that have been going on for years, there is no mention of this in the written records. (In one case 22 years!)
This usually suggests that the issues have not been tackled or dealt with. It can also mean that the employee has been completely unaware of the problem themselves, so has not done anything to improve.
In several cases (in particular one of bullying that had been going on for 14 years) I have seen appraisal forms speaking of 'exemplary performance' and given high performance ratings.
What Are The Comments For? To answer this question we need to know what they are going to be used for. For this we really need to go back to the purpose of the appraisal itself.
In my view the purpose of the appraisal or performance review is to put the individual in the best possible position to achieve the following year's objectives. In order to do that the individual needs to know what he or she needs to do differently (if anything).
Of course, in many organizations the review is also part of the information used to assess pay and bonus payments.
So, should the manager's remarks be a vague set of general opinions or should they be factual details of the individual's achievements against their objectives?
Homework Clearly any comments need to be factual; what happened, what was achieved. Unfortunately this means the manager does need to do their homework properly. In the example I saw recently, he clearly hadn't.
During The Year To fill out the forms effectively it's much easier if you keep records during the year of achievements against the objectives and agree them with your team as you go. Then, at the end of the year, the job is virtually done - and much more accurate.
It seems to me that any manager who does not do this and fills in forms with vague opinions and sweeping, unsubstantiated comments should themselves receive poor ratings on their performance review or appraisal documentation.
How It Happens There are several reasons. Poor levels of skill, poor training, lack of understanding as to why it's so important to get it right and one very silly one:
Badly Designed Forms If you have a box on an appraisal or performance review form labeled 'Manager's Comments' that is exactly what you will get. Comments. Simply re-labeling this box can give you much better results. Just calling the box 'Achievements against objectives' or giving an instruction 'Identify what was achieved' can dramatically increase the quality of the response.
In Summary This is a task that should be easy and straightforward if it is done properly and managers keep their records up to date and agreed with the individual during the year. They 'comments' just need to be statements describing what has been achieved. Being able to do this is a (very) basic management skill. If a manager is incapable of doing this, his or her skill level needs to be questioned.
If managers know what information is required it will make it much easier for them to write something useful.
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