Planning and preparing are necessary if you want to conduct an effective performance appraisal. You will learn more about the person and be better able to help him or her if you know what you are going to talk about. Employees need and want to know their strengths and weaknesses, and what they should do to improve. A number of benefits to the company and the person result from a frank and friendly discussion.
Encouraged to talk about the job and problems concerning it
To be able to evaluate performance and do a good job of counseling, the supervisor must know much about the person and how he or she is doing on the job. During the interview, the person should be encouraged to talk about the job and problems concerning it.
An interviewer needs to be adept at asking questions and listening for the answers
To be effective, you need to know what to say and what not to say to motivate and encourage a person. For the company’s benefit as well as the person’s, you should also be consistent in your evaluations. Evaluating on points is a common method for comparing the performance and the accomplishments of employees. Successful appraisers are aware of the pitfalls to avoid when interviewing people. They see why personnel records must be kept up to date and confidential. They also realize the importance of following up after interviewing.
Preparing for an evaluation
A performance appraisal interview will be easy for you to handle, and you’ll do a more extensive job if you prepare for it. Here are some tips on how to do this:
1. Review the record. Review the personal history of the person by collecting all the information you have, including that from other people. Look into the person’s background, service time with the company, previous jobs held, and what progress the person has made since being hired. Study any notes made of previous appraisals with the person.
2. Consider the job the person is doing. Become familiar with the standards and responsibilities of the job in order to judge how he or she is doing. Determine what a person in that type of work must do to be a success.
3. Decide where you will talk with the person. You must have a place where you have privacy and your conversation cannot be heard. This is important to the person.
4. Pick a time for the interview. Avoid scheduling it for when you or the person might be very busy or could be interrupted. Plan to start the interview when you’re fairly sure you can finish it.
5. Have the interviewee at ease. The secret to a good performance appraisal interview is to have the interviewee at ease, willing to discuss the job, and wanting to learn how to improve. To put the person in this frame of mind, you should begin by explaining the purpose of your meeting. Say that you are talking to all your people, and that your main purpose is to help each person. Tell the person that you want to talk about the work and how it is going, and that you also would like to talk about any problems the person may have.
Handling appraisal interviews
When you counsel with your people, you let them know how they are doing and what they can do to improve their performance. Since an appraisal interview is like a progress report, most people consider it important and will take it quite seriously.
The interview is equally important to the supervisor because it presents an opportunity to learn more about the person and to motivate him or her through encouragement and praise. Because both of you have a lot to gain from an interview, it’s essential for you to do the best you can with it.
Here are some guidelines to help you.
1. Listen carefully when the person talks. This may be difficult for two reasons. First, you may already think you know what the person is going to say, and second, while the person is talking, you may be thinking about how you will respond. Remember however, that if you don’t listen carefully, you may not understand completely what the person is saying. Consequently, you’ll be unable to provide the right motivation for better performance.
2. Allocate equal time to praise and criticize. Resist the inclination to spend a lot of time discussing a person’s weakness or area of below average achievement. Recognize that too much finding fault can cause resentment.
3. Be friendly and sincere. You are trying to help the person, not tear him or her down. Be encouraging and positive when suggesting how performance can be improved.
4. Limit the goals and objectives. You set the person’s goals and objectives both in number and degree. Recognize a person’s capabilities in anticipating what can be accomplished. Don’t expect a complete change of behavior during or immediately after a single interview.
5. Appraise fairly. Evaluate people on the basis of actual results and not on how the job was accomplished. An introverted person who can achieve goals in his or her own quiet way should be graded just as high as an outgoing and aggressive person who does the same. Rate each person as objectively as possible. This means that you should be aware of your prejudices and set them aside. When criticizing an employee, you should be able to relate more than one incident that backs up the criticism.
Five things to avoid in an appraisal interview
Several stumbling blocks are in the path of the supervisor who wants to get the most from an interview with one of his or her people. You can overcome them by thinking about what you are going to say before the meeting and by keeping in mind that your main objective is to help the person. Here are five pitfalls to avoid when you talk to a person about performance on the job:
1. Avoid comparisons with other people, especially peers. Nobody likes to hear that someone else has done a better job. Say, “Here are some ways you can do better,” rather than, “Here is what you have done wrong.”
2. Don’t dwell on a person’s weakness. Focus on improvement in the future, not on past mistakes. Talk about what a person has done, not about what the person is. Speak more about the work than the person. Be constructive in order to motivate.
3. Be careful about discouraging a person. Saying that a person’s goals are impractical or impossible can be discouraging. You could very easily be proven wrong. If you feel that you must say something about a person’s goals, go only so far as to tactfully point out the difficulties that might be in the person’s path.
4. Refrain from using words that suggest poor performance or failure. Words such as guilty, faults, mistakes, and weaknesses are better left unsaid.
5. Do not make promises. You can’t predict the future, and you shouldn’t try. Never, for example, promise a raise or a job. Circumstances may change or events may occur which would make it impossible for you to deliver.
J.D. McHenry, president of Global Jet Services, has been involved in numerous aviation maintenance and flight operation programs for more than 31 years. His background includes aircraft manufacturer, corporate flight operations, FAR 91 and 135 operations, aircraft management, repair stations, and fixed base operations. He holds A&P, IA, and Doctorate of Business Management. For more information on Global Jet Services, visit www.globaljetservices.com.
