Appraisals or Appease-als?

The mere mention of 'appraisals' can cause anxiety for both managers and employees. Despite their intended purpose, appraisals are often seen as a mandatory task that has little relevance to an employee's daily responsibilities and growth.

However, when conducted effectively, appraisals can significantly enhance performance, motivate employees to grow, and provide necessary support to those who need it. In fact, studies show one of the top three reasons people have for leaving a job is a lack of career opportunities or development.

Unfortunately, many businesses struggle to execute appraisals well, leading to stressed managers and disengaged employees.

One significant challenge managers face is the lack of time. In today's fast-paced work environment, middle managers juggle numerous responsibilities, from meeting senior leadership's demands to managing their teams. Consequently, they often find it difficult to allocate adequate time for thorough appraisal preparation.

Additionally, some managers may be tempted to use appraisals to simply reassure employees with positive feedback without detailing what they are doing well or where they could improve. While this might seem like an easier approach, such vague feedback can create a false sense of security for employees and hinder their potential growth.

Employees want to be challenged and have the opportunity to learn and grow. Having clearly defined goals and a manager that is invested in their development can be powerful motivators. According to the Workplace Learning Report 2024, a strong learning culture can boost retention by 57%.

Often, goals set during an appraisal are not revisited, meaning little progress is made towards them, causing disillusionment among employees and ultimately preventing managers from being able to accurately measure employee performance. ?In addition, goals need to be aligned to the company’s overall objectives – this will help create a sense of connection and purpose within the organisation.

GETTING AN APPRAISAL RIGHT

Appraisals or career development reviews provide managers with the opportunity to evaluate an employee's progress and offer guidance, training, and feedback to help them advance. For underperforming employees, managers should openly discuss the missing skills and identify additional support needed for improvement.

Conversely, when an employee excels, managers should clearly communicate what made their work successful, providing a reference for future projects. In essence, appraisals should deliver constructive, actionable feedback designed to encourage and empower employees.

For this process to be effective, managers must be well-prepared, going beyond a quick review of an employee's recent work. They should examine previous appraisals and goals to understand achievements, challenges, and potential development areas. Additionally, it's important to consider the targets or goals previously set for the employee. A poorly prepared manager may give the impression that the business does not truly care about its employees.

A key component of appraisals is setting clear, firm goals that provide employees with purpose and motivation for the next six months or year. These goals should be developed with input from the employees. Managers should ask their team members about their career aspirations, what they find important, and if there are any areas they want to improve or new skills they wish to acquire.

UNDERSTANDING THE REWARD PROCESS

A problem facing many businesses is that employees often link appraisals to discussions about promotions and pay rises. Taking this approach can turn an appraisal into a negotiation, detracting from talking about employee performance and working together to develop goals for the coming year.

Businesses must create open-door cultures where employees feel able to raise these topics all year round, instead of just in the appraisal meeting.

It’s also important that businesses make clear how appraisals connect to an employee’s development and how this impacts reward. Leaders and managers should work closely together to create better experiences around how employees are rewarded and clearly communicate them so there isn’t the expectation that an appraisal automatically leads to a pay rise or promotion.

More clarity around how performance is measured and what the appraisal process entails will ultimately lead to healthier conversations.

REGULAR FEEDBACK

While annual appraisals remain an important component of many businesses’ performance management process, it’s not enough to build engaged and incentivised employees.

Today employees want regular feedback and to feel managers are truly invested in their professional development.

A system of continuous feedback – however brief and informal – will reinforce positive behaviours, identify skill gaps and enable employees to work more effectively towards meeting their goals. In contrast, if managers hold off from giving feedback and reserve critique for once a year, employees are often less responsive to change.

It’s vital that leaders ensure they’re doing everything to make their employees feel valued, appreciated and important to the success of the business. In a nutshell, building a culture of regular feedback, recognition and opportunities for development is key to attracting and retaining talent.

At JourneyHR, our ethos is to create great places to work, supporting companies to recruit, retain and engage the best talent to build thriving businesses. We know what great employee experiences look like and we can help to build appraisal/career development reviews and reward processes that work for everyone.