Good advice with Carole White

Jan 7 2008 by The Journal

Staff Appraisals: As a business owner you should occasionally take time out to monitor your business performance and assess how your employees are working, one way to do this effectively is an appraisal system.

This can simply start out as an informal chat with staff. An appraisal is useful to set out clear objectives so your employees understand what you expect of them and helps to focus on tasks and company goals. It can also help employees feel that their good work is recognised and that they are valued. It can provide the opportunity to discuss any weaknesses or problems they may have, and to come up with solutions.

Defining targets for your employees could help you to:

• help individual employees better understand their aims and role within the business

• help employees feel valued

• monitor the success of the business

• identify ways to make the business run more efficiently.

An effective appraisal system will help you to assess your staff against defined objectives. It gives you the chance to give constructive feedback and to praise staff for their good work which will make them feel valued.

An employee's line manager usually carries out the appraisal. They are likely to have day-to-day contact and be aware of the employee's performance. Another option is where a variety of people who come into contact with the employee give written feedback on their performance. This could include the line manager, peers, staff working below them, and in some cases even customers. It may give a broad picture of how the employee is performing, but this is time-consuming and costly to implement.

When filling in appraisal forms, try not to concentrate on the recent past. Keep records of performance throughout the year, including occasions when the employee has been praised, or when problems have been addressed. Make sure employees know what to expect in advance, and ask them to prepare as well.

To make the appraisal meeting as productive as possible set aside enough time, use the appraisal form as a guide through the meeting and finally make sure the employee understands the next steps, such as a pay review or training programme. Give employees a written copy of their new objectives, and keep one in their personal file too.

Carole White, Business Support, Manager, Tedco

• If you require further advice, call (0191) 428-3300, email bussupport@tedco.org or visit us at www.tedco.org