7 Steps to Enhance Employee Performance and Appraisals

How to Engage and Motivate Employees

Performance appraisals give managers an excellent opportunity to engage employees, enhance employee motivation, and turbo charge employee performance.

Here are 7 Steps to take for better results:

1. Establish Performance Standards that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound).

Meet with your employee at the beginning of the evaluation period to go over the standards for the coming year.  Ensure that your employee understands the criteria that will be used for his evaluation.  Allow your employee to make comments and suggestions. When an employee is allowed to participate in the process and the standards, he will have more “buy in”.

2. Progress Reviews Should Be Done Monthly or at Least Quarterly

This can be a monthly report on progress on all performance standards submitted by the employee and reviewed and approved by the manager. A meeting to discuss the progress review is recommended.

You, as the manager, taking the time for a meeting and giving feedback puts the employee on notice that this is important to you and that you are holding  him accountable to the standards.

Take the time to be sure you know what the employee has really accomplished. Ask for proof in the form of copies and reports. Verify the progress independently even if it is just spot checks.

Place any employee who falls short in one or more elements on a 90 day Performance Improvement Plan before the end of the evaluation period.

When an employee knows he is being held accountable, the responsibility for his success or failure is truly his.

3. Focus on “Accomplishments” not “Activities”.

Being “busy” is  not the same as being “productive”.

If you are using competency based performance evaluations be sure to not evaluate the skill or competency such as “adaptable” but the accomplishment that resulted from the use of the skill – how being adaptable produced results for the company bottom line.

4. Evaluate Fairly and Objectively

Do not use subjective performance standards that are “moving targets” that you can change at whim depending upon how you have predetermined the employee should be evaluated. (Don’t laugh.  It happens.)

Do not use “absolute” standards. Do not use “always” or “never”. No one has perfect performance that is an absolute.  Example: Never makes a mistake. Always arrives on time.

There needs to be an ”acceptable range” with an opportunity to “exceed” and a possibility of “not meeting”.

Employees lose motivation when they can see a “no win”.

5. No Bad Surprises!

Never allow there to be any bad surprises in the final annual performance evaluation.  All employees should already have a good idea where they stand before they receive the final evaluation.

If you have had progress reviews with employees, mentored them as needed, used SMART goals, and allowed opportunities to bring performance up to meets (including a performance improvement plan) then each employee is truly responsible for his outcome.  His evaluation should not be a surprise to him.

This should avoid a situation for a surprised and angry employee to take desperate and retaliatory action.

6. Deal with Failure in a Timely Manner

If an employee is unable to meet the standards after you have regularly reviewed his progress with him, mentored him, and placed him on a performance improvement plan then it is time to demote, transfer to a lower job he can do, or fire him.

Taking the necessary action helps all employees to be motivated when they see there are consequences for non-performance.

7. Reward Your Stars Well

It is important to reward those who have done well. Recognize their accomplishments. This will encourage more outstanding work from them and send a message to others that it pays to perform well.

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