How to Create Employee Performance Appraisals
Every company and organization has to make sure that all of their employees are performing in a way that contributes to overall productivity and benefits the business. This is the reason why managers are in charge of conducting employee evaluations during certain periods within the working year.
After the evaluation, these managers will be able to determine which employees have been doing a good job and those who have been underperforming. It is then their job to share this information with the employee through a private conversation and by handing these employees a written document that contains information regarding their performance. These are what you call employee performance appraisal letters or HR appraisal forms, and this is important for both the employee and the employer.
How to write employee performance appraisals
A performance appraisal is a tool that managers use to allow them to properly evaluate an employee’s performance within the workplace. A performance appraisal is basically a document like a letter that’s handed out right before an in-person review where both the employee and the manager discuss the employee’s performance. So the following are tips that should help you make proper employee performance appraisals:
- Assign the employee to create a self-appraisal. By going through the employee’s self-appraisal, you can learn a lot about how the employee thinks about his or her own performance. You can also learn other important information such as accomplishments that the employee was able to achieve that you might not remember. Remember that this is a very helpful tool that you can use for when you have to write your performance appraisal, so use it wisely.
- Read all of the written communication between you and the employee over the time period that your performance appraisal will cover. So go through things like any past e-mails between you and the employee. Take note of all the positive or negative situations that these e-mails covered, and try to go over the employee’s communication style. If you’ve received any reports from the employee, then go through it and take notes on the employee’s reporting abilities.
- Analyze the smart goals that the employee has to achieve during the time frame of the appraisal. When an employee starts out in a company, he or she is immediately told about the company’s expectations regarding his or her taking over of the position. So with that in mind, determine the employee’s current status when it comes to achieving these goals and adjectives. If the employee has achieved any or all of them, possibly even exceeding expectations, then it should only result with you providing a positive employee review in the appraisal.
- Check on the employee’s attendance track. This is important because an employee who shows up is someone that can do work, so it’s best to keep an eye out for those employees that haven’t exactly been showing up often. Take note of those employees who have overused their sick leaves because that employee may not even have any health issues and is just using the sick leave as a way to get out of work. So if the employee you’re appraising is repeatedly on leave or tardy, then you’ll have to question this in your letter.
- Compare the job description of the employee’s position with the duties that he or she is performing. There are cases wherein employees are taking over the responsibilities of another employee or times where employees don’t even perform the duties that they were assigned to do. So if the employee isn’t exactly fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of his or her position, then you should address this issue in your letter. If the employee has gone above and beyond in terms of job expectations, then you should hand out positive feedback report to let him or her know that you’ve noticed the effort made.
- Contact other departments within the company regarding their feedback on the employee you are appraising. This is especially important if you’re working for a large company as different people may have communicated and worked with the employee. Ask the members of the other departments to provide you with information regarding the employee’s reliability and work ethic. You can also question the heads of other departments who have worked with the employee to tell you about the employee’s willingness to cooperate and communicate.
- Write the performance appraisal by category. You can do them in any order that you wish, but you have to make sure that you address the employee’s attendance, skills and abilities, and job knowledge and expectations. Address all the positive and negative issues regarding an employee’s attendance. Then you can appraise the employee’s skills and abilities such as how he or she is able to communicate with you and everyone else within the workplace. And lastly, you may then discuss in your appraisal if the employee understands the responsibilities that he or she has and if company expectations are being met.
- The last step that you’re going to have to take is to present the written performance appraisal to the employee before having to meet with the employee for a performance review. The reason why you have to do this is so that the employee will be able to understand ahead of time what’s going to be discussed during the review. Plus, early presentation helps decrease tension in the event of negative feedback. It can also be used as an opportunity for the employee to point out any false information or errors in terms of his or her appraisal.
Knowing how well an employee is doing in the workplace is really important. This valuable information will help managers understand whether these employees are assets to the company or liabilities that may just need to be let go. So if you would like to know about appraisal letters, then you may go through any of our articles that will give you the information you need, as well as the templates that can help you make one.