PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION TIPS FOR SUPERVISORS
- Be honest
and fair in evaluating all employees. Be certain that
you as the supervisor have reviewed all of your employees
in an objective and consistent manner as individuals and
relative to other employees in the group. The purpose of
performance evaluations is to take a realistic snapshot
of the employee's performance. Don't say the employee is
improving if (s)he is not performing well.
- Be consistent
in your approach. Don't create a situation where it
appears that you create excuses for one employee while holding
another employee accountable. Define your criteria for each
level of ranking and use the same criteria for every employee.
Don't set separate criteria for certain employees.
- Give your
comments. A ranking or number used to rank an employee's
performance is useless without a written comment. Comments
are required for any ranking that is less than "3 or
meets expectations" and also for the highest ranking of "5 or exceeds expectations."
Comments may confirm achievements or be constructive depending
on the nature of the ranking.
- Make your
comments consistent with the rankings. Don't give someone
a "meets expectations" ranking if your comment
describes a substandard performance.
- Be realistic.
Don't inflate ratings. Inflation of ratings only inflates
an employee's expectations.
- Rate the
employee's performance, not the employee's "attitude."
Keep your comments job related and based on the employee's
ability to perform his/her job. Avoid phrases like "bad
attitude," "he's not a team player," and
other subjective type comments. Explain the behavior that
is a result of the "attitude."
- Set goals
with the employee. Don't just criticize a deficient
performer; set goals for follow up and for improvement or
development. Work together to create a plan of action to
help the employee in deficient areas and to establish goals
for the coming year. Set a follow up period and be sure
to reevaluate the employee at the appropriate time.
- A performance
evaluation should motivate an employee to want to improve.
The employee should feel excited about the challenges and
his/her ability to meet them. If employees hear only about
their failures and weaknesses, they'll start to believe
they can't succeed. If employees get support and encouragement
from their supervisor, they'll gain the desire and confidence
to keep trying. When the supervisors' suggestions for improvement
bring results - and recognition - employees are even more
likely to listen to future suggestions.
- There should
be no surprises. The evaluation should be a review of
the past year's performance. Through previous counseling
and other communications, the employee should be aware of
any concerns you might have about their job performance.
The annual evaluation should not be the first time the employee
learns of your concerns.
- One tool
that may be used is to ask the employee to review his or
her own performance and expectations for the future by preparing
a self-appraisal. They may complete the same evaluation
form that the supervisor uses or may draft a memo or list
reviewing performance strengths and weaknesses and future
goals. Having the employee go through the same exercise
may make it easier for him or her to understand the value
of the evaluation process.
The
above information in a word (.doc) file.
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