Stages of the Appraisal Process

To attain these benefits you should follow the type of appraisal process outlined below. This gives you broad guidelines to aid you through this annual cycle.

Eight stage appraisal process

You may need to adapt the stages somewhat to suit the culture and ethos of your organization. This process is continuous and you can join it at any stage, which you may need to do if you take on a new role or join another organization. You may join halfway through an appraisal cycle or you may take on a team that has never had a formal appraisal before. If the latter is the case then you will need to define and agree SMART goals before you can begin.

Stage 1 - Conduct appraisal meeting
In selecting this activity as the first stage of the appraisal cycle it is assumed that each individual whose performance you are appraising has committed to the goals specified on the appraisal form. It also assumes that you have all the performance data necessary to make an objective decision on how well these goals have been met.

There are several tasks to perform prior to and during the actual meeting. You need to ensure that predetermined standards have been defined using the job description. The job description identifies the essential functions of, plus qualifications for, the job, provides a means to measure performance, and clarifies what your team members are expected to accomplish.

You need to create a secure environment during your appraisals that allows for full and open discussions to take place between you and the individual concerned. By developing this degree of trust you will engage the individual, who will accept the written summary of their performance as an accurate and true record of what took place. Finally, you will also receive the person's agreement of their new performance targets.

If you require more detailed information on this aspect of the appraisal cycle then you should download our free eBook, 'The Appraisal Meeting.'

Stage 2 - Define & agree SMART goals
As part of your preparation for the appraisal meeting you will need to produce a first draft of individual goals for each team member. This may be the first thing you do if your team is new to the appraisals process.

Whatever goals you set your team members you should make sure that they are SMART goals that relate to how the individual contributes to the success of the organization. The goals you set and the measures that relate to them should be based on criteria that are directly related to the primary duties and level of responsibility that is appropriate.

Each of these goals needs to clearly state what is required, be easily measured, be a task that is attainable not impossible, be relevant to the individual's role, and have a defined timeframe for the goal to be achieved by. A key aspect of defining each goal is to assess and schedule any training that may be required to attain it.

If you require more detailed information on this aspect of the appraisal cycle then you should download our free eBook, 'Effective Goal Setting.'

Stage 3 - Describe role competencies
Within your team you will find that the ways in which people set about achieving their goals are as diverse as the individuals themselves. As part of the appraisal cycle you must ensure that each team member exhibits the 'appropriate competencies' that are described in the role specification and description.

The way you assess an individual's competencies is based on the behaviors they display whilst performing their role and how these relate to those expected and defined in the role description. It is essential that you communicate what is expected of the individual in their role and outline how they will be measured in this area.

During each appraisal you can explain that you will assess and measure the person's behaviors by subdividing them into Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (KSAs). These three separate components together make up a particular behavior and individually are easier to measure than the behavior itself. For example, knowledge can be measured in terms of what someone has learnt. This can be through formal courses and qualifications or by performing the role.

Components of behavior

A person's skill can be assessed by how well they perform a task compared to the role description. You will have to judge this component in the light of your organization's culture.

The final measure is that of an individual's attitude toward their role or task. This is especially important because attitude affects how that person interacts with others, and how they, and by extension the organization, are perceived. For example, you will find that many of your customers are more tolerant if they feel that their problem has been truly appreciated even if it cannot easily be resolved.

This is a complex area and you can read more about this aspect of the appraisal cycle in our free eBook, 'Developing Competencies,' which you can download from this website.

Stage 4 - Person agrees & commits to goals
Once you and your team member have agreed both the goals and the competencies they need to display, you need to finalize exactly what you want this person to accomplish before their next appraisal meeting.

The meeting also gives you the opportunity to explain the type of reporting you expect to receive from them so that performance progress can be monitored and assessed. The frequency of this reporting will vary according to the nature of the team - for example, a monthly sales report from a sales person or a weekly incident report from a technical support team member.

You should engage the individual in an open and honest discussion about the exact wording and measures they will be judged on. At the end of these discussions you should both agree on exactly what the goals are for the coming year. You should always be willing to negotiate and compromise your first draft of their goals if you want to gain their full commitment.

Stage 5 - Agree & conduct review sessions
You should agree the frequency of the review sessions you wish to have with the individual throughout the year. This offers you the opportunity to remind the person of what you expect to be achieved and by when in order to keep them on track. These review sessions also enable you to update or amend goals if external factors change sufficiently to cause the original goal to be no longer attainable.

You can use these regular reviews to monitor progress and give constructive feedback on how well the team member is performing. At these meetings you can discuss the reported data highlighting any issues or problems that have come to light and how these might affect the team member's goals.

You can also use these meetings to bring attention to significant incidents that the individual has played a role in. Discuss with them how they felt about the situation and ask them to reflect on what they might do differently if faced with the same situation again.

These sessions provide you with an ideal opportunity to keep each of your team members on target and show your support and recognition of their efforts and commitment. You can also offer guidance to anyone falling behind or when you see someone struggling. These sessions should prevent either you or the individual from having any unpleasant surprises when the formal appraisal meeting comes around.

Stage 6 - Gather performance data
Within this process you have already (as part of Stage 4) defined and gained agreement for the type of reporting you require the individual to send you, but this should not be your only source of performance data.

For example, even though a marketing executive will report on progress against the marketing project plan, you should also take steps to record details of any significant incidents that have occurred that are not formally documented. Perhaps poor handling of a journalist's call into the organization has resulted in some negative press appearing and as the manager you need to understand what happened and why. In this example it could be that the call from the press was forwarded to the marketing team but not to those in your team trained to deal with the press. So the journalist was able to ask what appeared to be innocent questions in order to get the detail that they then turned into negative press. The fault in this instance lies in the process for handling this type of call rather than in the way any individual team member behaved. It suggests that additional training for everyone involved is required.

In a similar way you should always be on the look out for instances of 'exceptional or desired' behavior that you see displayed by your team as they go about their daily routine. This can be formally observed in a team or department meeting, or it can be seen informally by observing how a person resolved an issue in their day-to-day work.

You also need to adopt the habit of regularly recording this type of data both from within your team and as a result of external interactions. The types of data you are able to collect will vary according to the roles your team are responsible for.

Stage 7 - Write your performance summary for person
Each organization has their own style of appraisal form but usually there is a section provided for you as the manager to write your formal assessment of an individual's performance over the period against their goals.

The majority of forms you are likely to use will have three areas for feedback:

1. Manager Feedback - this is where you as manager present your assessment of the person's performance against their goals for the year or period assigned to the appraisal cycle.
2. Employee Response - this allows the person to respond to your assessment of their performance.
3. Agreed Assessment of Performance - this area is completed at the end of the part of the appraisal meeting that deals with the review and assessment of the current year, prior to defining and agreeing the next year's goals.

If your form does not have such a section, attach a separate sheet to the formal appraisal form so that there is a formal record of your assessment included in the individual's personnel file.

You should complete this part of the cycle at least two weeks before the annual appraisal meeting so that you have sufficient time to copy it to the individual concerned, allowing them the opportunity to respond to your comments on their performance. Complete your summary of the individual's performance against their goals and give a copy to them to review.

Stage 8 - Person comments on your summary
You must ensure that you provide your team members with your own summary on their year's performance with sufficient time for them to read, assimilate, and respond to your assessment of their performance.

It is important for your team members' morale and motivation that they perceive this as a 'real' part of the process. They must feel that they can honestly question and contradict your assessment of their performance and be taken seriously if they can support this with evidence. This meeting is extremely important to the individual because they see it as the only formal influence they have on their reward or recognition.

The response they make to your assessment should be returned to you at least a week before the appraisal meeting, so that you have time to consider it and prepare for the meeting.

Once you have conducted the appraisal meeting the whole cycle begins again with any relevant decisions made at the meeting being fed into the performance plan for the coming year.

As a manager, you may not have much say in how your organization's performance appraisal process is designed, but you are now aware of the essential aspects it should contain and how to maximize its effect on performance.

You may also be interested in:
Performance Management Cycle | OSCAR Principles of Performance Management | Setting SMART Goals and Objectives | Matching Competencies to Roles | Performance Appraisal Role Description | Appraisal Process Steps.


Key Points

  • Create a secure environment during your appraisals that allows for full and open discussions to take place between you and the individual concerned.
  • As part of your preparation for the appraisal meeting you will need to produce a first draft of individual goals for each team member.
  • As part of the appraisal cycle you must ensure that each team member exhibits the 'appropriate competencies' that are described in the role specification and description.
  • Once you have agreed both the goals and the competencies, you need to finalize exactly what you want them to accomplish before their next appraisal meeting.
  • You should schedule regular reviews to monitor progress and give constructive feedback on how well the team member is performing.
  • You can gather performance data from both personal observation and from any critical incidents that happen throughout the year as well as reports and time sheets.
  • Complete a performance summary well before the appraisal meeting so that the team member has sufficient time to make a considered response.
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