A popular bumper sticker says: "I might as well go to work, I'm in a bad mood anyway!" Perhaps this is how you feel about performance evaluations. You have to do it. You don't like it -- at least, it's not your favorite thing -- but you must do it. Below, you'll find some tips on making the employee evaluations process easier this year and next.
Communicate!
If you want to promote the best traits of your employees, begin by encouraging day-to-day communications. An open door policy prompts people to work harder and to share ideas about improving their workplace. Asking for input will make employees feel important and a valuable part of a team. When you use one of their ideas, you can record this for use on their evaluations. It's easier to share areas that need improvement when you have first built a base of respect. Asking for input is one way to build this foundation.
Keep Track
Save a spot in your Daytimer for recording brief notes about employees' successes. Documentation is the key to remembering events accurately. Someone has said: "If you don't write it down, it didn't happen!" Well, at least you may not be able to remember it. For some reason, it is more difficult to recall compliments and successes than failures. Make a habit of recording the accomplishments of employees you supervise.
Ask For It!
"I may not be perfect, but parts of me are excellent," states a popular evaluation slogan. Employees know their accomplishments best. A weekly report of work done is also a good tool for recalling successes and goals which have been reached. Goals which are written down and documented are easily noted on performance appraisals. It's amazing the number of accomplishments that go unnoticed. If you don't know what to write, ask the employee for input.
Be Honest About Your Performance
Honesty promotes honesty. When managers share their personal successes and failures, it helps employees to be honest. Reasonable expectations allow employees to succeed, and also build a willingness to re-attempt missed goals. An attitude of "progress and not perfection" will encourage employees to perform at higher levels. Managers who share successes and areas of concern from their performance evaluations will help employees understand the values by which they are evaluated.
Shoot For The Moon
It has been said that a 99.5% success rate would mean that airline pilots could crash over 100 airplanes per day and still meet this goal. We must aim higher! High expectations are born from the willingness to allow new ideas and failure. Do your employees set reasonable goals? Will they work harder or be totally discouraged if they fail to meet the goals they have set? Aim high and help employees to work daily to meet their goals. Use failure as a learning tool, not a reason to run for cover. Help employees to understand that failing does not mean they are failures.
Put It In Writing
Writing down goals make them more concrete. Specific objectives, with trackable milestones, are helpful to most employees. Breaking large goals into smaller ones is an excellent way to make them manageable. Accountability is the final piece needed for success. Employees feel cheated when supervisors ignore deadlines and don't check results at the finish line. When a goal is written with input from the employee, and with a measurable timetable for its accomplishment, the employee feels he or she has the power to make the goal a reality.
Ask for Input
Goals made without input from employees are more difficult to embrace. Asking employees for ideas about current problems empowers them. Soon, they will "own" the problem as a personal challenge. When they accept the problem as their own, you get free overtime work! They often work on it away from the office, while driving their cars, or when waiting in line at the supermarket. An employee invested in solving a problem feels like a valuable contributor in the workplace. Managers need the assistance, and the employees need to feel like valuable participants in the workplace.
Recognize Improvement
Unfortunately, 10% of employees receive 90% of the praise for work accomplished. Asking employees how problems have been solved would reveal more heroes in the workplace. Celebrate accomplishments. Stop and smell the success! Reward everyone on a team for reaching a goal. Often, the quietest employees do the largest amount of work. Seek them out! Discovering employees' ideas about recognition can prevent us from being one-sided in our praise. Not recognizing employees will create resentment and low morale. Written and verbal praise often surpasses money in making employees feel valuable. Recognize and celebrate success and you will be one of the most popular bosses in your company!
