FIGURE 8-14 Guidelines for Effective Performance Evaluation Interviews 1. Emphasize positive aspects of employee performance. 2. Tell each employee that the evaluation session is to improve performance, not to discipline. 3. Provide immediate positive and developmental feedback in a private location, and explicitly state that you are providing the employee with performance feedback. 4. Review performance formally at least annually and more frequently for new employees or those who are performing poorly. Ongoing and regular feedback is optimal. 5. Make criticisms specific, not general and vague. 6. Focus criticisms on performance, not on personality characteristics. 7. Stay calm and do not argue with the person being evaluated. 8. Identify specific actions the employee can take to improve performance, and discuss the manager's role in supporting future development and career planning. 9. Emphasize the evaluator's willingness to assist the employee's efforts and to improve performance. 10. End the evaluation session by stressing the positive aspects of the employee's performance and reviewing plans to improve performance. WEC WE CONNECTIONS: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Performance Appraisal Meeting Project Manager Oliver Caine skimmed his notes as he waited for Ben Robins to come to the meeting room. He hoped Ben would arrive soon, as he wanted to get the conversation finished quickly. He had a lot of other people to get through. It was performance appraisal season, and Oliver had to sit down with each of his seven software engineers, just as he had done the year before. Oliver had promised the HR people that he would hand in the forms by Friday, which had seemed like a good idea three weeks ago when he had agreed to it. Unfortunately, there had been some unexpected issues with his project in the meantime so now he had to squeeze all of the performance management activities into a couple of days. Ben walked into the conference room, and smiled as he said, Hi, Oliver. I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Oliver replied, No, I was a little early. Come on in and sit down. Let's get this performance appraisal done." Smiling good-naturedly. Ben shrugged and chuckled as he said, "Sounds good to me. Just tell me how great I am and I'll get out of your hair." Ben shut the door and slid into a chair, looking expectantly at Oliver to begin. Performance Feedback Glancing down at the performance appraisal form (see Table 1) he was in the process of hastily completing, Oliver said, "Ben, I see that you have been with us for just over seven months, and you have been working with me for the last four. Generally, I can say that you have been doing a good job. You have always handed in your work on time, and people seem to like you. There are some areas that need improving, however. Let me tell you what you need to work on. First, I've noticed you coming in late a couple of times. That's never a good idea, especially for a junior person. Please do what you can to cut that out." Page 271 TABLE 1 Performance Appraisal Form WEC Performance Appraisal Form Employee Name Employee Role Supervisor Name Appraisal Period Performance Contributions: Please indicate three areas where the employee performed well: 1. to 3. Performance Improvement: Please indicate three areas for suggested performance improvement: 1. 2. 3 Circle the rating corresponding to the employee's performance over the appraisal period: Unsatisfactory Performance was consistently below expectations in most essential areas of responsibility, and/or reasonable progress toward critical go Signatures: Employee Supervisor Evaluation Date Leaning forward in his chair, Ben looked startled as he said, "Well, okay. I guess it's true I was late on two mornings, but that's because I've been having some car trouble this month. You know that I work late most nights, sometimes till 11:00p.m. And I've never taken a sick day. I can't believe that being 10 minutes late twice is at the top of your list. That really doesn't seem to be significant in my mind." Looking uncomfortable, Oliver replied, You don't need to get so upset, Ben. I'm trying to help you here. And actually, this reminds me of another area that needs improvement. You seem to get upset too easily. Come to think of it, I've seen you react strongly to things that people say in our project meetings. I wish you would make more of an effort to stay calm and reasonable." Shaking his head, Ben said, Excuse me? I honestly don't know what you are talking about. I have never gotten upset in a project meeting! I may have defended an idea, but that's it. Can you give me an example of a time when you think this happened?" Oliver sighed, and shook his head. He said, "No, I don't have an exact date or anything, but I know I've seen it, and on more than one occasion. It seems silly to argue about this. Why would I lie?" Eyes flashing, Ben replied quietly with his teeth clenched, I'm not saying that you are a liar, Oliver. I'm simply disagreeing with what you're saying. You're just wrong." Oliver shook his head impatiently. "Well, I think you're the one who is wrong. But, we're getting off track here. I'm just Page 272 telling you what I've seen. If you want to improve, you'll be more open to listening to feedback. Oh, actually, that's great." Oliver wrote quickly on his paper, and continued. Let's actually put the listening to criticism thing as something you need to do better. There! That's good. Now we have three areas for improvement so I can fill out this form properly. We'll list punctuality, staying calm, and accepting criticism as areas that you need to work on. I was having trouble thinking of three weaknesses, but now I think we're set." Ben sat speechless, unsure what to say. The Overall Rating Oliver put down his pen, and said, "On the bright side, I am rating you at 'meets expectations.' You'll be happy to know that you are aligned with all of the other engineers on this project. Good job! While each of you has strengths and weaknesses, I'm happy to say that everyone is doing fine overall. I'm sure you'll agree that we have a very good team." What About Scott? Finally finding his voice, Ben said, "Wait. We're all rated the same? What about Scott Browski? That guy is a walking disaster. We all spend time fixing his mistakes because he can't do anything right. And if you care so much about punctuality, maybe you've noticed that he is late at least once a week." Annoyed, Oliver said, "Woah. Calm down, Ben. There's no need to come down so hard on Scott. He may not be perfect, but the customers love him. He is just the most easy-going guy. If we get behind schedule, we just send him out to make nice and no one gets upset. We couldn't get by without him. Besides, I only gave him a rating of meets expectations as well." Jumping out of his chair, Ben replied, This makes no sense! Scott is the reason we get behind schedule! If he weren't here we wouldn't need anyone to kiss up to the customer." Oliver held out his hands in a calming gesture, and said, You're getting upset again, Ben. What's with that? Didn't we just agree that you were going to work on that problem? Please. Have a seat. I think we're just about done. You just need to sign these forms for me saying that we had this meeting." Oliver held out his pen to Ben, who seemed unsure how to react. In the next installment of the WE Connections story (at the end of Chapter 9), HR staff mull over their compensation strategy when some employees express dissatisfaction with the equity of the company's system. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Which rater biases does Oliver seem to be displaying? 2. Using the guidelines for effective performance evaluation interviews (Figure 8-14), develop a plan for what Oliver should do to improve his ability to conduct more effective performance appraisal interviews. 3. Examining the performance appraisal form in C Table 8-1, what recommendations would you have for its improvement