Staff appraisals

22 August 2002 by
Staff appraisals

The problem

In a competitive world, managers and staff alike are expected to perform to the best of their abilities. How can employers best judge this performance?

The law

When conducting an appraisal or taking any steps arising out of an assessment, it is necessary to take into account each member of staff's employment rights.

For example, an employee could walk out and claim constructive dismissal (unfair dismissal) if he or she considers the appraisal process to be conducted unreasonably, so as to destroy the trust and confidence between employee and manager.

A breach of contract may also arise if the employer fails to follow its own contractual appraisal or performance procedures.

Treating employees inconsistently or unfairly can also lead to allegations of discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, marital status and disability.

Expert advice

There are three main reasons for having an appraisal system: first, to monitor the progress of the business; second, to develop the business to meet changing circumstances; and third, to encourage and motivate employees by identifying development needs and discussing performance issues.

A staff appraisal scheme provides a framework for measuring the performance of the business through assessing individual staff members against jointly agreed targets. A healthy organisation can adapt and change to market forces, so appraisals should be developed to respond to new circumstances.

From the employee's perspective, an appraisal will recognise the value and worth they bring to the firm. It demonstrates that they are able to contribute to the development of the business and that they are encouraged to develop their personal skills.

The appraisal system needs to relate to the main aspirations of the business, so these must be defined. The difficult part is then converting these aims into clear targets that can be built into the day-to-day work of staff.

At this initial stage, the process works from top to bottom. Senior managers have to consider how targets are to be effectively handled by the next tier of management. This cascade principle will assist everyone to identify with the eventual targets that are set.

However, once passed down from that upper level of management, a two-way feedback process is needed.

It is useful to look at the job descriptions of each employee and ensure that each manager has the job descriptions of the staff for whom they are responsible. This will also help to identify areas of responsibility and activities that can be appraised.

If the company is particularly small, no job descriptions may exist, but still a list of key tasks can be drawn up and agreed jointly by the manager and each member of staff.

The appraisal interview itself must be a two-way process, and negotiated and discussed rather than just imposed. And it is important that managers recognise that appraisals should not be the only occasions when performance and development issues are discussed. Managing people is a continuous process and appraisals should be used to reinforce messages that have already been provided. There should be no surprises for the employee in the appraisal interview.

The interview process should be honest, but fair, and it should seek to accentuate the positive strengths of the appraisee and establish how these can best be used. This is not to say that weaknesses should be ignored, however - wherever these are identified, a method of improvement should also be explored. If the interview focuses on weaknesses alone, this will make the whole process very negative whereas, once completed, the interview should have provided motivation.

The interview must establish targets that are not only relevant to the company's aims, but focus on how the employee fits into these plans. The initial interview can be difficult if it becomes too focused, so it should ideally try to open up areas of performance for discussion, especially the employee's job description and their developmental aspirations.

Beware!

Take note of what your staff think - they can make or break your business.

Ensure feedback is two-way and don't impose decisions - discuss them with the employee.

Check list

  • Set time aside to prepare for the appraisal.
  • Define the targets to be met by the employee.
  • Tell employees of the benefits of appraisals.
  • Be honest and fair.
  • Focus on the employee.
  • Speak to your personnel department before embarking on any appraisals.

Contacts

Eversheds Human Resource Consultancy Steve Bolton
0161-831 8153

Employment law and industrial relations helpline
020 7396 5100

Department for Trade and Industryhttp://www.dti.gov.uk/er/

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking