Performance Appraisal: Your Performance ReviewedPerformance Appraisal Help For Your Career A performance appraisal is something that more organizations are attempting to carry out because they believe it is something that they should be doing, but judging by the number of negative comments from people who have been through their own performance review recently, those organizations are clearly not getting it right. However, if you are the employee, don't just blame your employer, it is a shared responsibility to get these appraisals right. Generally, the aims of a performance appraisal are to:
How To Discuss Your Performance...The performance appraisal or review should provide an opportunity for the individual employee and his/her line manager to get together to engage in a two-way dialogue about the individual’s performance, career development and any support required from the manager to improve both job performance and to address staff retention concerns. Often seen as a top down process or an opportunity for one person (the manager) to ask questions and the other (the employee) to reply, it should actually be a free flowing conversation in which both parties views are offered and expressed. Performance appraisals usually provide an opportunity to look back at past behaviour and so consider prior performance. But to be successful they should be more about reaching agreement on what should be done in the future, than just criticising past performance. In the conventional performance appraisal or, more usually, annual review process, the manager prepares a review of the performance of a staff member and in turn the staff member should also be asked to fill out a self-review to to take to the discussions with the supervisor. By preparing for the performance review in this way, the employee is able to focus on the key issues which are usually defined in a competency framework unless issues have been raised previously about performance improvement. Don't Go Unprepared...However, many employees go into the appraisal meeting without having thought about the review period, and so are unprepared to present their points of view, which can lead to a poor appraisal and may affect their career path adversely. Being unprepared means that the only substantial input comes from the manager who may have formed the wrong impression, leaving the employee to defensively react to the 'criticisms'. Employees should prepare by reviewing their work beforehand, identifying any issues they faced in doing their jobs, their job responsibilities, and any job performance expectations set with the manager. More importantly for the employee it is the best time to make sure that the manager is aware of successes and contributions over and above the job description.Employees need to know how they are doing all year round, not just at appraisal time. It is generally taken to be management's responsibility to discuss both positives and negatives of employee performance throughout the year, but unfortunately this does not happen everywhere, so it's in the employees' interests to open up discussions about performance during the year whenever an appropriate opportunity arises. By taking your chance to inform your manager regularly and seek regular feedback you improve the understanding of what's required by both sides and the appraisal, when you get to it can become exactly what it should be: a free flowing conversation in which both parties views are offered and expressed without fear or recrimination. This is the best way of avoiding that often heard comment: "well THAT was a waste of time", because as I said at the start of this item, don't just blame your employer, it is a shared responsibility to get these appraisals right. Return to People Management or continue to Leadership for more valuable insights, or go on to read more detailed information about how your work skills can be analyzed and used to your advantage in your employee review or annual appraisal. You might also want to visit Employee Review for more information about how to analyze your review after its taken place - especially if you don't think it went too well. You should also read about 360 Degree Feedback From 360 Degree Appraisals and 360 Degree Appraisal and 360 Feedback Information, because you may be involved with these processes at some point. You can also search this site for more about a performance appraisal, or the whole of the web from here. Career Change | Career Change Success | Career Options | Career Success | Your Contribution | Your Options | Seven Success Tips | Overcoming Inertia | Competence 
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