The Appraisal Interview

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
The Appraisal Interview
THE APPRAISAL
INTERVIEW
Turn dreaded appraisals into valued ones

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Attribution: All images are from sources where a Creative Commons license exists for commercial use. All icons are on subscription
from thenounproject. All clipart is from free sources. The MTL Professional Development Programme is copyright of Manage Train
Learn.
TheAppraisal
Interview
Introduction: Although appraisal is an ongoing process, it is the yearly, half-yearly or
irregularly-held appraisal interview that gives the whole process focus and meaning.
Employees in particular judge schemes and the credibility of the appraisers by what
happens during the brief but all-important contact of the appraisal interview.

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1. AIMS
There are usually several things going on in an
appraisal interview. At one level, you may have
to complete a process to meet your
organisation's requirements; at another level,
you may have to discuss personal problems with
your appraisee. Aim to put the performance
needs of your appraisees foremost. What you are
trying to do is to create the best possible climate
in which to discuss how your appraisee is doing
and to help them do even better in future.
Tip: be bold in your appraisal aims. Don't just stick
to filling in the forms or reviewing the last project.
Raise the employee's sights by discussing their life
and career ambitions and how they can develop
their potential.
Clarify your aims in appraisal
Flickr attribution: /jrladia/7245527230/

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2.
PREPARATION
Prepare for an appraisal by gathering all the
information you need to enable you to accurately
discuss the appraisee's performance. This could
mean looking at earlier appraisal sessions,
previous plans, and getting views from other
people. Get your appraisee to also focus on the
same areas as you. Then the interview will be a
valuable meeting of minds.
Tip: you must devote time to preparing for each of
your team's appraisals. One way is to have a chat
with each person about 2 weeks before the formal
session and tell them how to prepare. Make contact
again 3 days before to check everything is OK. On
the day, start planning for the meeting at least 1
hour before.
Good preparation is a sign of a professional approach
Flickr attribution: /sskennel/3431643815/

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Big Picture and Small
Detail
Appraisal interviews should be part of an overall
employee performance scheme. Such a scheme
should comprise ongoing but informal discussions
of how an employee is doing and the more
formal discussions of an appraisal scheme.
So, one of the purposes of a formal appraisal
interview is to bring together all the ongoing
discussions that you've had throughout the
review period and look for overall trends in
performance. It's like putting all the little details
into the big picture.
That's why, before the formal interview, you
should look at all the events, incidents and issues
of ongoing performance. This isn't to find fault or
weak areas, but to find good points and areas
that can be built on.

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Which Career Path IsYourAppraisee On?
In preparing for an appraisal interview, take some time
to think about your appraisee's career path. This is not
always as straightforward as it sounds.
According to research published in the International
Journal of Behavioural Development, there are 4
different kinds of career path, each of which requires a
different response from you at appraisal time. Finding
out which path they are on is a necessary starting
point for helping them progress. Here they are.
3.SURVIVORS
We chug along and are happy enough
but have a sense of not really knowing
where we want to be
2. ADAPTED PURSUIT
We have a plan and make changes to it
with each job we do
4.CONFUSEDANDVAGUE
We don’t know where we are going
and don’t know where to get help
1. CONSISTENT PURSUIT
We know where we are going and are
motivated to get there
The 4 Career Paths:

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3. SHAPE AND
STRUCTURE
Give your appraisal interviews a shape and
structure. Some people like to start with a
contract, which is a summary of what you hope
to achieve in the interview. Then they move on
to the agenda that they want to discuss, followed
by focusing on particular issues. After this, comes
some kind of agreement on future plans and a
conclusion that summarises the session.
Tip: after each step in the appraisal interview,
check that your employee is happy with what has
been agreed, eg after the contracting stage and the
review stage.You can do this by paraphrasing and
summarising what you ‘ve agreed. If they are
happy, move on. If not, stop and go over things
again.
Build your review step-by-step
Flick attribution: /vox_efx/2699933802/

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1. START:
Welcome the appraisee
2. Use any
informal reality
bridge
questions, eg
“How ‘s the
baby?”
5. Ask the appraisee to
give their own
assessment of how
things have gone since
last time
7. Ask
appraisee
to outline
their
current
work
activities
8. Discuss,
summarise,
and agree
current
work
activities
9. Ask
appraisee
to say how
they see
things
developing
in future
10. Add any
information
to help the
appraisee’s
plans
Done!
12. Thank appraisee
and close. Record the
meeting. Follow up.
11. Review the
appraisal session
highlighting current
and future work
activities
12 Steps for
a Successful
“Past-
Present-
Future”
Appraisal
4. Ask if the
appraise is
happy with the
aims and
structure of the
appraisal.
3. Outline the
aims and
structure of the
appraisal
session. Be
positive.
6. Add your comments,
summarise, and check
your understanding
with the appraisee.

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4. AGENDA
The agenda is the main body of your appraisal
interview, the areas you want to discuss. This
could be anything you want, eg discussion of a
particular piece of work, discussion of the period
since the last review, discussion of how well the
appraisee has met the objectives set last time.
You could also structure the agenda into past
work, present work and future work; or create an
agenda around the mnemonic SWOT: strengths
of the appraisee, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats.
Tip: see the appraisal meeting as a people-
maintenance exercise, a check-up of the
employee's working health. Stephen Covey calls it,
"looking after the goose that lays the golden egg".
Appraisal is like a people maintenance exercise
Flickr attribution: /poolie/2250698836/

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5. TONE
Set a relaxed and business-like tone at the
appraisal interview. You want the appraisee to
feel comfortable enough to talk openly and that
means making them feel safe. You also want
them to understand the importance of the
session for their future work plans and how
seriously the organisation cares about how well
they are doing.
Adopt a relaxed and business-like tone
Flickr attribution: /departmentofed/7845876826/

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6. SKILLS
The chief skill required of you in an appraisal
session is listening. It is sometimes tempting to
take the lead role, particularly in the early stages.
However, the interview is not about you; it's
about them. Use skilful questions to open them
up and close them down. Listen to what they say,
what they mean, and what they want. Through
questions and listening, your interview will
progress naturally and achieve its aims.
Tip: as well as good listening, good questioning,
and good understanding, the other key skill in
appraisal is being able to give people valuable
feedback that is helpful and motivates them.Your
overall aim is to get employees to take ownership
of their performance and responsibility for
developing themselves.
Appraisal is a chance to demonstrate your people skills
Flickr attribution: /departmentofed/7845878454/

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7. FOLLOW UP
If you've set the right aims, prepared well, and
run the interview with skill, you'll end up with
plans that your appraisee is happy to sign up to.
The final thing you have to do is to create a
contract between you to ensure that the plans
are put into place and reviewed. This contract
may vary according to how much your appraisee
needs your help and how much they want to get
on with things themselves. Either way, you must
stay in touch and meet again at regular intervals.
Tip: the plans you make at appraisal often depend
on what vision the appraisee has of their own
future. Some people know exactly where they are
going. Others chop and change. Many have a sense
that they are not really on the right path. Others
have no idea.You can help clarify some of these
issues as a result of how you handle the appraisal.
End each appraisal with a plan of action
Flickr attribution: /davidden/372310312/

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Appraisal is a 2-Way Street
Remember that, just as you would expect your
appraisees to take on board your feedback, so
you should accept anything they want to say to
you.
Bear in mind that, often, your appraisees will not
be as adept at delivering feedback as you are, so
you need to rise above the feeling that they're
criticising you or "out to get you". Depending on
how open you are to their comments, some of
the things they say may come as total surprises to
you.
However, you need to listen to what is said, take
issues seriously, and respond positively. After all,
if you want them to respond to your feedback,
then you should take the lead and respond to
theirs. Appraisal should be a two-way highway,
not a one-way one.

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This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
The appraisal interview, (or meeting or session), is the key feature of the appraisal process. It can
be a nervous time for both you and your appraisee and this nervousness risks getting in the way of
making the best progress. That's why you should manage the interview and in particular the
following 7 features.

The Appraisal Interview

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