Annual performance appraisals

Traceyd

Well, here I am writing for your advice again. This time it's regarding how you handle Annual Performance Appraisals. I am continously struggling trying to get my supervisors to conduct their Annual Performance Appraisals for their staff in a timely manner. I am still waiting on some that were due at the end of 2011. We used to expect these to be done prior to December 31 each year, but everybody complained because it was too busy of a time to get them done. Soooo, I spoke with my President and tried to be more accomadating and allowed them to spread them throughout the year but they would need to be done annually based on the month they were done the previous year. Well, guess what they seem to still be too busy. Now, I'm frustrated! I wondered if you all are dedicated to obtaining Annual Appraisals and review of Job Descriptions, if so what is your secret to getting your supervisors to get them done. Everything I have been taught and read indicates the importance of having these on record, so I wondered if I am the only person who deals with this ongoing nightmare.
Again, I appreciate your input!!!!

NaeNae55

Here is what I have observed in the past:

If the higher management staff (president, etc) is slow to do appraisals for lower management staff and supervisors (department or shift level), the lower staff will do the same. Crud creeps downward.

If the results of not doing appraisals cannot be clearly demonstrated, managers will tend to believe they are not important. It is difficult to prove that employees work harder when they have goals they can achieve and get rewarded for. That is why we tie appraisals to raises here. The payroll form is usually accompanied by the appraisal. Employees usually won't squawk if they don't get an appraisal, but mess with their money and it is a different story.

If the higher management (president, etc) does appraisals on time, but never includes how the lower staff appraises the line workers in the appraisal, the lower staff will not see it as important. If it is not important enough to be appraised on, it is not important enough to make time for.

To get managers to do appraisals on time they must 1) see it is important to upper management, 2) understand how it affects their own staff and 3) see it is important to their own success.

Good luck!

Nae

cnghr

We also tie appraisals to salary increases. Every six months we have a semi-annual salary review period, which allows managers/supervisors to request merit increases for their employees at that time. If there is not a current appraisal on file for an employee for whom an increase is requested, the raise will not be approved.

This has worked pretty well for us, I don't have to nag nearly as much about appraisals not being done or being overdue.

Celeste Blackburn SPHR

This is a subject that comes up here every now and again. My favorite "fix" I've seen posted (as an employee, not an HR person) is to withhold the supervisor's own review -- and subsequent pay raise -- until all of their reviews were done. Seems fair to me.

Still Need Coffee

Ooh - Celeste, I love that idea!

I think Tracyd's problem is one that most of us encounter. We actually ended up going away from an annual review model, and instead do more frequent reviews (monthly or quarterly, depending on department). These are a little more informal in nature, so it takes employees & managers less time to prepare and administer. So far it's been pretty successful.

Good luck - I personally think review systems are one of those things that are always going to be slightly imperfect. I'm not sure a perfect system exists, we all just do our best

NaeNae55

This last year I redid our reviews. I basically modified the JDs by dividing them up into segments of similar duties/requirements and then asking for two things. 1) Current Performance (knowledge, skill set, accuracy, follow instructions/procedures, meet deadlines, handle policy and procedure changes, problems, etc.) and 2) Goals/Improvement Areas. After each item I left a large area for comments. The supervisor could not just use a number system and forget thinking about comments, but had to judge that employee on the specific area of duties and explain what they liked and disliked and why. The appraisals were easy to create since the hard part was dividing the areas up into 2-5 areas. I then just copyied my 2 issues and the lines for comments and emailed the forms to the managers/supervisors.

I thought the supervisors would balk at having to write so much, but they actually loved it (relating specifically to duties made it easier) and so did the employees. I have never had an easier year of getting reviews back. Of course, it was the first year. We will see how it works next year after the honeymoon is over.