Appraisals

Once you have invested the time and resource demanded by the recruitment process, you need to make sure you keep them! A recent survey, investigating the performance of UK workers found that most employees would remain in their roles longer, if their bosses praised them on a regular basis. One of the most effective methods of doing this is staff appraisals.

Appraisals, when done well, provide the perfect opportunity to give feedback, motivate and ultimately, strengthen your workforce. Executed poorly and you could see you staff turnover double.

How to get them right

– Preparation
While appraisals provide an employer with the perfect opportunity to review performance, it is important that that the employee is part of the process. They should be invited to give their feedback – both negative and positive – and a definitive action plan of what should be achieved by the next appraisal should be collaboratively established.

– Feedback
It is extremely important that appraisals are approached in a positive manner, good performance should be rewarded and any criticism should be constructive. It is also important that all feedback is elaborated upon with clear examples.

– Management
It is very important to allocate a sufficient amount of uninterrupted time to appraisals. It is also vital that the process is managed by a line manager or someone who has a good working knowledge of that particular employees’ work.