Three Focus Areas in Depth

Focus Area 3: Conducting the Appraisal Meeting and Follow-Up (cont.)

Coducting the Meeting

1. Meet in private where you will not be interrupted.
   Provide enough time for the meeting so that you can fully discuss the material in the written evaluation and not be rushed.  Your focus and attention needs to be on the employee being evaluated such that this conversation is the most important thing for you in the moment.
   
   
2. Provide a context in the beginning of the meeting.
   Many employees are agitated over evaluations, even positive ones, so it is helpful that the employee knows how you’d like the meeting to unfold.  Allow for questions and interaction.
   
   
3. Provide a copy of the evaluation.
   It is your option to provide this in advance, give it to the employee at the beginning or end of the meeting.  There are pros and cons to each of these.
   
   
4. Review action items and clarify next steps.
   At the end of the meeting, go over action items.  Once you receive the employee’s input, review it, affirm the employee’s views, and add or clarify items as appropriate.  Make sure you identify by when the employee is expected to sign and date a copy and return to you.
   
   If deficiencies need to be addressed, identify how this will be done and be clear about who is responsible for what and by when.  Since this may be stressful, consider providing an opportunity for the employee to seek clarification or follow up on any item.
   
   
5. Make a connection with the employee later on.
   If the evaluation was particularly difficult, check in with the employee that day or by early the next day.  This helps to reestablish the relationship that is important to moving forward.

Conversations during the Meeting

1. Discussing Position Duties and Expectations
1. Employee discusses changes that affect the duties, and how those may need to be updated in the position description and the expectations and standards.
2. Supervisor adds perspective, and any other information that would or should change the position description and expectations and standards established.
2. Discussing Performance Issues
1. Be direct – Rather than indirectly saying, “you should consider…” state “I expect improved and sustained performance in (specific area of performance) by next review period (or an appropriate shorter time period).”
2. Avoid tempering the comment with an excuse – Rather than making excuses for an employee, simply state matter-of-factly the objectives that were not met.  It may be appropriate to state how you will support the employee in meeting the objective.
3. Focus on facts and specific behaviors – Offer examples of problems instead of opinions.  Focus on the behavioral aspects of a deficiency rather than the cause of it.  Specify the observable actions or behaviors the employee is or is not doing.
4. Restate expectations and standards – Identify specific examples when performance standards are not met.  Include information for employee to improve.
5. Avoid being too brief – Being too brief suggests to the employee that the supervisor is not taking the evaluation seriously.  Rather, identify specific examples of how the employee has done a great job or how employee is consistently meeting requirements.
6. Focus on job-related, not personal issues – Information that relates to FMLA, ADA or personal problems should not be included in the evaluation.  Focus the appraisal on behavior and objective information that is job-related.