The Question
"How will I know that the job's being done perfectly?" That's the question. That's the question you must ask to be able to undertake a professional performance appraisal.
The Method
1 Make A List
Think of a job: any job of someone who reports to you. Ask the question. Write down the answers. Remember you're concerned with the job, not who's doing it. Don't be concerned if your list is quite long. And don't be concerned if you're not entirely clear about the answers at this stage.
2 Refine The List
Eliminate anything that can't be definitively measured: eliminate anything about behaviours: that includes everything about issues such as attitude, demeanour, dress, timekeeping, appearance, conscientiousness, loyalty and similar things. We eliminate these because we're measuring a job not a person.
3 Introduce Specifics
Your list probably includes some broad generalizations e.g. "meet sales budget", "keep accurate records of invoices and payments", "use company computer systems correctly". These can all be measured but they're too broad.
- To "Meet sales budget" add products, client mix, product mix, frequency and anything else you mean by "meet sales budget".
- To "Keep accurate records" add which ones, frequency, method, source and outcome, etc.
4 Specify Measurement
Finally you need to state how you're going to measure the described performance e.g. meet sales budget with a mix of 70% current clients and 30% new clients including 10% of all sales comprising new products giving trade discounts no greater than 5% in total and 8% to any one customer... and so on.
What You've Really Created
You've created a set of performance standards. Performance standards are the scoreboard that shows how well you're doing in pursuit of your goal. Without soundly based performance standards you can't have meaningful performance appraisal.
Other Benefits
Good performance standards mean that an employee can self assess and adjust. They know exactly what's expected of them. They can seek help if the signals are poor. You and the employee have common and agreed expectations. You both agree on the performance that the appraisal will be based on. And both of you can check at regular intervals to see "how things are going".
As behaviours don't form part of the appraisal you won't get involved in disagreements about bad attitude, poor time keeping and interpersonal relationships. These matter only if they clearly affect whether or not the employee is meeting the performance standards.
And there'll be no cumbersome forms to complete and no long, intense and threatening "counselling" sessions.
Conclusion
It's quite extraordinary what you can achieve with just one "right" question. Especially when the answers aren't open to speculation and personal opinion. Performance appraisal could become a real joy!
"How will I know that the job's being done perfectly?" That's the question. That's the question you must ask to be able to undertake a professional performance appraisal.
The Method
1 Make A List
Think of a job: any job of someone who reports to you. Ask the question. Write down the answers. Remember you're concerned with the job, not who's doing it. Don't be concerned if your list is quite long. And don't be concerned if you're not entirely clear about the answers at this stage.
2 Refine The List
Eliminate anything that can't be definitively measured: eliminate anything about behaviours: that includes everything about issues such as attitude, demeanour, dress, timekeeping, appearance, conscientiousness, loyalty and similar things. We eliminate these because we're measuring a job not a person.
3 Introduce Specifics
Your list probably includes some broad generalizations e.g. "meet sales budget", "keep accurate records of invoices and payments", "use company computer systems correctly". These can all be measured but they're too broad.
- To "Meet sales budget" add products, client mix, product mix, frequency and anything else you mean by "meet sales budget".
- To "Keep accurate records" add which ones, frequency, method, source and outcome, etc.
4 Specify Measurement
Finally you need to state how you're going to measure the described performance e.g. meet sales budget with a mix of 70% current clients and 30% new clients including 10% of all sales comprising new products giving trade discounts no greater than 5% in total and 8% to any one customer... and so on.
What You've Really Created
You've created a set of performance standards. Performance standards are the scoreboard that shows how well you're doing in pursuit of your goal. Without soundly based performance standards you can't have meaningful performance appraisal.
Other Benefits
Good performance standards mean that an employee can self assess and adjust. They know exactly what's expected of them. They can seek help if the signals are poor. You and the employee have common and agreed expectations. You both agree on the performance that the appraisal will be based on. And both of you can check at regular intervals to see "how things are going".
As behaviours don't form part of the appraisal you won't get involved in disagreements about bad attitude, poor time keeping and interpersonal relationships. These matter only if they clearly affect whether or not the employee is meeting the performance standards.
And there'll be no cumbersome forms to complete and no long, intense and threatening "counselling" sessions.
Conclusion
It's quite extraordinary what you can achieve with just one "right" question. Especially when the answers aren't open to speculation and personal opinion. Performance appraisal could become a real joy!
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