Help Your Employees Prepare for a Performance Appraisal

PREPARING EMPLOYEES FOR THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEWS: Remind employees to give some thought to the purpose of performance appraisal: it is a means to learn from the past, plan for the future, and improve effectiveness and work satisfaction. The performance appraisal discussion is an opportunity to motivate, recognize, and reward your employee. It is a time for you and your employee to share perceptions about the employee's accomplishments during the performance period. It is meant to be a culmination of all previous communications made during the performance period.

PREPERATORY QUESTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES BEFORE A PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: 1. What is the overall purpose of your job? Think about what your contributions are to the operation of your work group, department, and the university as a whole. What is the output of your job, not just the specific tasks you perform? Why does your job exist? 2. What are your major areas of responsibility? Which are the most important? Why? 3. What are the performance expectations of your job? What is your understanding of how well each part of the job must be performed? 4. How can your performance be measured? How do you know when you succeed in each critical area? What happens when the job is well done?

QUESTIONS CONTINUED: 1. Which tasks or functions, if not completed, would make performance unacceptable in your job? 2. In which areas of the job have you done especially well during the time period to be reviewed? What helped you to do well? In which areas would you like to make improvements? How could this be done? 3. How has your supervisor influenced your effectiveness and job satisfaction? What could he/she do to provide more guidance and assistance for you? 4. What changes in your job, procedures, or interpersonal communications would you suggest to your supervisor to:

--improve your performance? --increase the effectiveness of your position?

-- provide you with greater job satisfaction?

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CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

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