Staff appraisals; do you like em?

[GoneCoastal]

I do them - we have a very well defined scheme where I am. I'll post more details when I get back in later

 

[Mallard]

I can't imagine anyone enjoying staff appraisals. Takes all sorts I suppose.

 

[trashpony]

It all depends on the company. Ive exceeded all my objectives and had top class appraisels every year in my current job. But, it doesnt get me anywhere. No payrises, hardly any bonus, no career progression, training needs ignored. So, for me they are a complete waste of time.

This is what it's like where I work. But you always end up in a box which says 'satisfactory performance'. I asked my boss at my last appraisal what I had to do to get 'exceptional performance' and he couldn't answer me

 

[Mapped]

I quite like them, actually in my current job the reviews are essential. My manager is very "hands off" and generally doesn't know what I'm doing or what I have done. It's very hard to pin him down, so these formal things help a lot.

I use them to get my job description and objectives re-written, get funding for training and talk about areas to work on for promotion etc. I always get "exceeded expectations" even though my manager doesn't actually monitor much of what I do.

Saying that there are other people in my organisation who don't have great relationships with thier managers and these reviews have been used to nit-pick and generally demoralise the person being reviewed. It all depends on your relationship with your manager I suppose

 

[portman]

As a grunt on the studio floor, I personally hate appraisals/reviews. Particularly the last one where I had to fill in a form listing goals, achievements, etc. I mean I hate lying but when asked what I want to achieve, I'm not sure that saying I work in order to live and would like a substantial pay rise reflecting the effort that I've put in over the years without precious little thanks from upper management is going to go down that well! So I bullshit instead.

I've had one not very impressive cost of living rise in the last four years and when someone starts talking about loyalty and committment in a job review, I find it insulting to say the fecking least.

To be honest, I find having a chat with my imediate manager over a drink in the pub a lot more useful than talking to upper management who seem to be nothing but spin merchants.

Okay rant over...

Zenie, the best advice I can offer is to not make it too formal, keep forms, tick boxes and any other similar management guff out of the equation. Spend more time listening than talking but when you do have something to say, be completely honest - if it's done with tact, people will respect you for it.

 

[GoneCoastal]

I know they really can be

I'd like to use them as a way for the staff to get more than the employer IYSWIM

Training, to get more creative, more responsibility (more pay) that kind of thing.

That's how they are used where I am at the moment. Does the company you are working for have an existing appraisal system or have you just been sort of told to "do appraisals" ?

 

[High Voltage]

. . . . .The worst thing is that each part has two sections, one for me to fill in and one for the boss. He gets to see my answers before he fills in his, which I think is a bit unfair. . . . . .

One of the reasons that one of the sections is returned to your boss is NOT for him to see your "answers"

BUT

for him to be able to prepare and research the points that you are making.

eg I want X Training.

If he/she's prepared for the meeting they should have been able to find out if this training is appropriate / available / in budget and should be able to give you an answer on the spot. Or see if "guidance" is necessary etc etc.

Ideally the appraisal should take place in a "neutral" venue. NOT THE MANAGERS OFFICE for example and in a place that you won't be disturbed / overhead so the canteen is far from ideal.

How, long?
As long as it takes. The appraisals I did often ran to 2-3 hours FFS

God, there's about 4-5 different types of "questions" you should ask. Can't remember what they are now. But basically, information gathering questions (ie specific almost yes / no), avoid ambiguous questions that ramble on too long. They just go on and on and on.

You should also get to do an "anonymous" feed back report which your manager doesn't get to see (His/her manager gets to see it, so that should balance up them seeing your side of the appraisal first)

Yes, I've done a "few" appraisals. Yes, I had some "basic" appraisal training. Yes, I'm a f@cking GREAT manager

A lot depends on the company and the company ethos. I always felt that the "appraisals" that we had to do were more of a "box ticking" exercise rather than anything useful, but you've got to start somewhere.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

a staff appraisal - I've never had one in my life

reading the other thread about emails in work... I've really missed out (so far) on the wonderful world of 21st century employment