Performance Appraisals & Feedback for Absolute Beginners

Introduction

Let’s face it nobody likes giving or receiving performance appraisals, but feedback is essential and has the power to move you and your team forward.  So how can you master this crucial leadership skill to better yourself and your team? In Performance Appraisals & Feedback for Absolute Beginners, you will find a playbook and the tools you need to make your feedback as effective as possible including a glossary of phrases and action verbs by skill-type being evaluated.

In addition to giving performance appraisals, receiving honest and constructive feedback from others is important for your own career too. Consider the tips in the second half of the book on how you can make it easier for others to provide the feedback you and everyone truly needs.

Finally, you will learn about the benefits of an interview-based approach to performance reviews and development planning.  What are you waiting for, let’s get started!

Using Feedback to Move Your Team Forward

Research shows that one of the best ways to help employees thrive is to give them feedback. It’s one of the primary levers leaders have to increase a sense of learning and vitality. Giving your direct reports regular updates on personal performance, as well as on how the business is doing, helps them feel valued. Negative or directive feedback provides guidance, leading people to become, over time, more certain about their behavior and more confident in their competence.

Highlighting an employee’s strengths can help generate a sense of accomplishment and motivation. A Gallup survey found that 67% of employees whose managers focused on their strengths were fully engaged in their work, as compared to only 31% of employees whose managers focused on their weaknesses.

IBM’s WorkTrends survey of over 19,000 workers in 26 countries, across industries and thousands of organizations, revealed that the engagement level of employees who receive recognition is almost three times higher than the engagement level of those who do not. The same survey showed that employees who receive recognition are also far less likely to quit. Recognition has been shown to increase happiness at work in general and is tied to cultural and business results, such as job satisfaction and retention.

Offering positive feedback can generate wins for managers, too. High performers offer more positive feedback to peers; in fact, high-performing teams share nearly six times more positive feedback than average teams. Meanwhile, low-performing teams share nearly twice as much negative feedback than average teams.

Consider which of your team members’ positive contributions you currently take for granted. Make a list, and start calling out team members for their strengths when you see them in action — and try to catch people at it in the moment. The more specific you are, the better. The more you notice what’s meaningful to a person, the greater your potential impact will be. Some people prefer a pat on the back in private; others want to bask in the glory of a crowd. If you don’t tend to give much feedback, start scheduling one-on-one meetings. Tell each individual what you want them to start, stop, and continue doing. See if you can list