Work in the company is significantly influenced by conversations, conversations among employees, but also between managers and employees. However, everyday communication is not very suitable for questions of principle, such as the question of cooperation. The performance appraisal is a management tool that should not be underestimated.
It is therefore very important to be familiar with the principles, guidelines and rules of the game for employee appraisals.
I will introduce you to 3 different methods, although these are not generally mutually exclusive. They can complement each other wonderfully if used correctly.
Method 1: The annual employee appraisal
The annual employee appraisal is a framework for a discussion.
Here one discusses systematically in private - with a conscious distance from the day's events - the central contents of the relationship between employee and manager.
The conversation mainly has 2 goals, a review, in which you take stock of the past year and a look ahead to the next year.
In addition to a review, the following content should be part of the conversation:
Tasks and requirements
Create a common understanding
Clarify responsibilities and areas of responsibility
The requirements are realistic
Performance
Record that the employee provides the service for which he is employed
Recognition
Feedback on strengths and weaknesses
What is expected of the manager?
What is mutually expected for the cooperation?
Work situation
How is the current work situation (climate, diversity, workplace, etc.)
Open discussion, suggestions, requests
Future
Development ideas and development opportunities for employees
Define measures
The employee appraisal should not be neglected. It demands a expenditure of time that should not be underestimated and that pays off, provided that the manager responds to the suggestions of the employees. Above all, this promotes employee motivation. It also serves as a so-called early warning system. You can recognize problems early on and when an employee is dissatisfied. This is especially important if we don't want to lose him.
The right attunement and preparation for the appraisal interview is an essential basis for success. It has proven useful to prepare the subject areas in a very specific form.
A guide could be:
Attunement
You think about the current relationship with the employee, which pleasant or stressful situations are remembered in the past year and consider the significance for the common basis of discussion. Start with small talk, like to respond to something that specifically affects this employee in order to show interest. In addition, ask yourself what is to be achieved with the above conversation, which attitude can help?
Review
What has the employee been doing in the past year? Have goals been achieved? Praise! If not, what was it? What makes sense to improve the efficiency of the employee?
Aptitude priorities
What are the employee's strengths and weaknesses? As a manager, where do you see personal or professional deficits in the performance of tasks? Which talents should be taken into account in the future? What development prospects are conceivable?
Leadership and collaboration
How are the managerial tasks of the manager viewed? What is important for working together and what are the mutual expectations? What should be retained, what should change?
Goals, tasks, success criteria
What are the medium and long-term goals? Which priorities should be set? What tasks and goals will be derived from this for the next year? Which measures do we derive? What are the implications? Which criteria should mutual success be measured by?
Development measures
How can the qualification of the employee be promoted in professional and personal terms? What are the essential steps? How can the manager help? What can the employee do?
In order to successfully lead these steps through the conversation, it is important to conduct the conversation correctly.
Basically, there are three different types of interviewing that can be observed in the course of the employee interview:
The questioning conversation
The questioning conversation helps wherever it is first about collecting information, to get a differentiated picture of a situation (e.g. the work in the past year, the performance profile of the employee). A questioning attitude presupposes the actual interest in the conversation partner. It protects against hasty judgments and signals to the interlocutor that he is being taken seriously. It is the starting point for arriving at a common view of things.
Feedback conversation
The feedback discussion helps the manager to get an idea of the effects it triggers on their counterpart. It helps to compare the self-image with the external image of the interlocutor. It is an emotionally sensitive exchange of perspectives and experiences, because every discrepancy between self-image and external image is unsettling and often triggers corresponding counter-reactions.
Negotiating conversation
The negotiation discussion helps to reach common agreements - for example, about goals, priorities or certain measures. Managers also use this form in particular when they want to agree on support measures with the employee, with the help of which he or she is to adjust to the company's strategic direction or to qualify for new tasks.
If the employee appraisal is introduced carefully and thoughtfully in the company, the discussion culture is given a solid basis. It is therefore necessary to lay down certain standards for the implementation in order for this effect to intensify.
I recommend the following steps:
1. The preparation
Intensive preparation promises more success. As a manager, it is wise to inform employees in a team meeting about goals, framework conditions and roles in the employee appraisal. All questions, doubts and reservations can now be discussed in an open atmosphere. It would be great if you could discuss the rules of the game together as a team. Also includes:
Location
Time
Dealing with the result log
Forms for preparation and logging
2. The appointment
The appointment should be sent early enough but not too early either. As a time frame, I can say from experience that you should plan 2-3 hours in which there are no other disruptions. There is nothing worse than ringing cell phones, unexpected visitors or time pressure.
3. The attunement
This is the basis for a successful conversation. Both parties prepare carefully and in writing for the interview.
4. The conversation
Here one essentially limits oneself to the review and the proposed preview. Small talk is welcome at the beginning and at the end, but not in the middle of the conversation. This creates unnecessary distractions and can create the impression that things are not being taken seriously enough. It is best to stick to the structure, the guidelines and compare mutual assessments. Of course, an order can be changed if it makes sense. If you notice early on that you cannot get there, it is better to limit it to a part and discuss it in detail and make another appointment or hold quarterly discussions.
It is important that the manager uses the various forms of conversation in the right place.
5. The protocol
Typically there are two types of protocol. The minutes of the meeting and the results. The conversation is documented jointly in the conversation log. You can build on that in the next year and it will reduce misunderstandings. The agreed development and support measures are documented in the result protocol. In addition, in my opinion, a small retrospective of the meeting makes sense. A brief assessment of the conversation in terms of target achievement, discussion atmosphere, commitment and clarity. The manager summarizes suggestions for improvement separately and changes that are considered sensible are implemented in the next meeting or organizational changes are discussed in the next team meeting before they are implemented.
6. The passing on
The minutes of the conversation should remain between both parties, with the minutes of the results being public across the company. This is especially important when other employees or departments are involved in the implementation of the measures.
7. The joint evaluation
Executives evaluate their experiences with the employee appraisals and thus continuously develop the method further.

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