By Samaria Jones
Like most employers, you know that an employee performance appraisal is a waste of time without a detailed list of goals and measurable accomplishments, right? But are you familiar with the benefits of aligning your employee appraisal systems with your company’s values, goals and strategies? Appraisals, which were traditionally solely from the supervisor’s point-of-view, now commonly include employee self-rating and feedback from others in the business as well as outside of the business.
The main goal of an appraisal system is to produce an accurate, objective and fair picture of an employee’s performance. A formal performance appraisal program should include standardized, periodic evaluations that focus on the job related aspects of an employee’s performance. This is best accomplished when performance standards and objectives are mutually understood and agreed upon and when they are reasonably aligned with your business’s core competencies, values, overall mission and future business direction.
Periodic evaluations provided by an effective appraisal system can help improve employee morale, identify training and development needs and promote better communications between supervisors and employees. Everything from raises, career paths, training plans and departmental productivity are impacted by employee performance.
The most important elements of performance appraisals are follow up and feedback. “In fact, the number one thing employees complain about is the lack of feedback and communication from their managers,” says Charles Ginn, Insperity director of Performance Improvement.
Continued unsatisfactory employee performance is often the result of employers not providing effective feedback. According to business analysts, fifty percent of the time an organization has non-performance issues, those issues can be linked not to motivational concerns, but to feedback issues. Feedback is essential.
What may be more difficult than accepting the advantages of providing feedback is determining the best source or sources for obtaining this essential input. Aside from internal sources of feedback, external sources can also be very helpful. A source that is often overlooked and undervalued is customer feedback.
There are many ways to keep in touch with your customers, involve them in the employee appraisal process, and improve your business's bottom line at the same time.
- Surveys - They provide customers the chance to be anonymous in the feedback process, or at least removed. For many people, it's easier to comment on things they do or don't like when they don't have to talk directly to someone. The negative to this approach is that an employee doesn't have an opportunity to seek clarification to customers' comments.
- Face-to-face contact - Relationship-building and communication go hand in hand. If there are faulty or broken customer/employee relationships, then this approach becomes problematic.
- Solicit feedback on service - Ask customers about their perceptions of the service they have received. Ask customers for suggestions on ways to improve service. Request customer feedback on new programs your organization is testing.
- Ask for feedback regarding a specific employee's job performance - Ask questions regarding a specific job or work order. Feedback from every customer may not be possible, but try to get a representative response on employee performance as it relates to specific jobs or work orders.
Even with these options, Ginn suggests that customer feedback be a part of the performance appraisal process, not dictate it.
Communication is key. Business owners and employees must be willing, and able, to ask for and listen to customers’ comments and ideas. While you don’t need to toss out the annual performance appraisal, incorporating customer satisfaction ratings into the process can significantly improve its efficiency and ultimately employee performance.
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