Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Evaluate employee performance appraisal software

If you spend hours trying to put together each performance appraisal, appraisal software will be your new best friend. It can streamline the process to save you some leg work and it ensures that each employee gets treated the same.

I recommend: Use a program such as ManagerAssistant or SuccessFactors to create reviews using templates. You can customize them to your company so they look authentic, but the preset categories make it easier to be objective. These programs also help you insert the proper legal language to protect your company.

Define everyone's role in the employee appraisal system

If you have everyone who works with an employee submit an employee performance review, the individual could feel ambushed. Instead, get the opinions of key supervisors and coworkers and compile them all into one document that comes from the immediate supervisor. Have the employee complete a self review before the meeting so the supervisor will know if the employee and the company are on the same page.

I recommend: Read Carnegie Mellon University's tips on avoiding bias in a performance appraisal to take out comments that could be subjective. Then use the information from the American Management Association to compile a list of questions for employees to ask themselves during self review.

Seek outside help with performance appraisal programs

If you're having trouble drafting effective and unbiased performance appraisals, hire a consultant to give your management team a performance appraisal overview. Comprehensive training could make them -- and you -- less apprehensive.

I recommend: Contact a couple of performance appraisal consultants and get a good idea of their philosophies, services and costs before you hire one. Three you can try for starters are Fox Lawson & Associates, Westminster Associates and Grote Consulting.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Always give constructive feedback during a job performance appraisal. Yes, you should mention areas for improvement, but also take note of what each individual is doing well. Throw in a thank you for extra brownie points.
• •  If performance reviews are supposed to take place on each employees' anniversary, make sure to schedule them in a timely fashion. A late appraisal can cause an employee to feel slighted, especially if the meeting involves a pay raise.

Guide to Performance Appraisal

Conduct performance reviews to help your employees reach their potential

By LaRita Heet, Freelance Writer, Journalist, IBT Designer, LMH Communications

1. Create a performance review policy designed to motivate your employees and keep them on the right track.
2. Employee performance appraisals are the perfect opportunity to set and assess the employee’s workplace goals.
3. Employee evaluations allow you to reward good behavior and develop a performance improvement plan for those who need it.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find employee performance review services and vendors

Go to the pros to find employee performance review services. Human resource consultants or performance appraisal vendors can help you establish a reliable process for employee evaluations.

I recommend: More than 400 organizations in 15 countries rely on the employee performance review experts at Promantek for customized employee performance appraisals with great features, such as year-round employee evaluations notes and employee performance plans. HRN Performance Pro is a flexible, user-friendly online program for employee reviews developed especially for small and mid-sized business by HR professionals.

Gather information for employee performance appraisals with 360-degree employee reviews

A recent trend in performance appraisals is the 360-degree employee review, in which input from the employee's coworkers, the employee himself and other relevant sources are all taken into account for an all-around employee evaluation.

I recommend: The confidential, ongoing employee performance reviews at Checkpoint Peer Review cover 70 job skills, eight major skill clusters and 18 skill groups. Find 360 management software solutions at Business.com. SuccessFactor’s Performance Reviews: Manager’s Edition helps the small business owner write professional performance reviews.

Use employee performance management software for employee reviews

Help your employees design and reach professional goals that are in keeping with company goals using software for employee reviews.

I recommend: Halogen’s eAppraisal helps you align, track and measure employee performance goals and complete training and development plans. StepStone Performance Management software helps with performance appraisals and goal setting for individual employees and teams. Appraisal Smart, which offers web-based performance appraisal software, also offers a detailed tutorial for conducting constructive and successful employee performance appraisals.

Have the proper forms for conducting employee reviews

Keep written records of employee performance reviews. You may need to refer back to those records to evaluate an employee's progress, or you may need them for legal purposes.

I recommend: Performance-Appraisal-Form.com takes the hassle out of creating performance appraisal forms by offering 10 different types of forms written by HR execs.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  During a performance appraisal, it is your job to fairly assess a person's workplace behaviors - not the person.
• •  Performance appraisals should be delivered in a calm, unhurried atmosphere so both you and your employee can focus on the employee review.
• •  Be specific in employee reviews. Instead of saying, 'Your cash drawer is always off,' try, 'Last week, your cash drawer was off by more than $10.00 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.' That's objective fact - not a subjective criticism.
• •  Performance appraisals are not a substitute for spontaneous, positive feedback or kudos. Don't wait until employee reviews are scheduled six months after the fact to applaud an employee's quick-thinking or to address a problem.
• •  Find an employee performance review solution that you can customize to fit your needs.
• •  Put the formal employee performance review in writing, and ask the employee to sign it once the performance appraisal has been completed.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use a template for written performance appraisals

It can be tough to think of what to write on the spot, especially if you have every employee performance evaluation on the same day or during the same week. A template is a great way to ensure you include everything you need to and that your reviews remain objective, with no biased information or hearsay.

I recommend: Get a free, simple employee review template from Docstoc that you can edit in a word processing program. Alternately, order a premade form packet from a company like HRN Management Group. The greater amount of detail in the forms may be well worth the expense.

Involve employees in their performance reviews

Using performance appraisals as a time for you to assess your employees as well as for your employees to assess themselves can be a win-win situation. In fact, the areas where an employee thinks he or she needs to improve may match exactly with yours. Working on a strategy together instead of simply telling the employee what to do can get you better results in the long run.

I recommend: Have each employee complete a self review before his or her employee performance appraisal. Again, you can use a template, such as the one provided at FindLaw. You may want to explain to employees why these assessments are important so they don't consider them a waste of time and give them the thought they require. There's an article on Experience that can help.

Reward with more than just a positive job performance appraisal

While your top performers will have positive performance appraisals, you should consider rewarding consistently excellent work with more than just a pat on the back. It will encourage your stars to keep shining brightly and may motivate average employees to work to become stellar.

I recommend: Of course, the most common way to reward stellar work is with a pay raise, but since employees should not share salary information, you need a more visible reward. For example, give outstanding employees extra vacation days or invitations to exclusive golf outings. Hrtools has more ideas. Also consider holding an employee awards banquet to recognize them for their achievements. Visit the website of the Town of Cary, NC, to learn how to crown an employee of the year.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure each employee performance review remains confidential. It should stay between the employee and his or her supervisor and not become fodder for office gossip.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

360 degree reviews

Traditionally, a performance appraisal has been between a supervisor and an employee. Researchers and managers devoted to making the performance appraisal more useful and beneficial to a company and employees have provided excellent information on the best practices for using the performance appraisal. The 360-degree review is a system for a better appraisal as the input and discussion comes from many sources including peers and other colleagues rather than the just supervisor and employee.

I recommend: Success Factors provides detailed information on designing an effective performance appraisal package.

Drive on a two-way street

If you drive on a two-way street for your next performance appraisal, you will probably be most pleased as a supervisor or as an employee. Experts provide great advice to improve performance appraisals including a thoughtful self-evaluation solicited from each employee. Savvy supervisors provide guidance to employees so they come prepared and focused on providing this input.

I recommend: Experts at Carnegie Mellon University provide many ideas for making performance appraisals more meaningful and beneficial.

Rater reliability and calibration

Performance appraisals should be good for the morale of an organization. Rater reliability and calibration, if deficient, could destroy the camaraderie and collegiality. Employees discuss performance appraisals and if there is even perception that one rater is more lenient and positive than others, employees could become disgruntled or angry. Management should make every effort to ensure that all of the appraisers rate people with fairness and equality.

I recommend: Grote Counseling will help managers prepare fair and equitable performance appraisal instruments.

Halo effect

Supervisors who use the halo effect, or the exact opposite, the horn effect, provide flawed performance appraisals. A valuable employee usually does almost everything well, but no one is perfect. If the managers are not careful, they could provide only praise to a very good employee. This is an example of the halo effect.

I recommend: HRN Management Group has experts to implement or improve performance appraisals for all organizations.

SMART Goals

SMART goals, or 'Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely' goals, are great for increasing the production in an organization, but these are also good for a meaningful performance appraisal. Employees and their supervisors should set goals for an outstanding performance and use these as benchmarks for performance appraisal.

I recommend: Suite101.com explains SMART goals that every supervisor and employee should include in a performance appraisal. Halogen Software explains smart goals and other steps to an effective performance appraisal.

Recency effect

Most organizations provide performance appraisals on a yearly basis although supervisors give feedback throughout the year. Supervisors often forget what happened in the first 50 weeks of the year so they concentrate on the last two weeks before the meeting to discuss performance with an employee. This is the recency effect, and supervisors should devise a system to avoid this problem or they will produce ineffective appraisals.

I recommend: Changing Minds gives an overview of the recency effect, as does a write-up in HR.com.