Training Your Staff on How To Use the Performance Appraisal Form

Training your supervisors on how to complete the appraisal forms can be invaluable. Some of the factors that should be covered in such training include:

• Relevant documentation about the employee's performance rating, including discipline and commendations, should be evaluated prior to completing the appraisal form.
• If this is not the employee's first appraisal, the appraisal from the prior year(s) should be reviewed.
• If the employee worked with another department during the rating period, input from that department's supervisor should be solicited.
• Make sure performance during the entire rating period — not just the most recent few months —is evaluated.
• Avoid personal feelings about the employee. The performance rating should be based only on job-related matters.
• Include examples in the comments.
• Avoid the "halo" effect (rating the employee high in all areas because of excellent performance in a specific area) and the "horn" effect (rating the employee low in all areas because of substandard performance in a specific area).
• Make sure the performance ratings and the comments are consistent.
• Consider having one person at the organization review all appraisals with the goal of achieving consistency among appraisals given to different employees.

A well designed and administered performance appraisal program can go far to protect employers from certain legal challenges to employment decisions.

Modern Business Associates frequently deals with performance appraisal topics. As a Professional Employee Organization, our clients rely on us to help them effectively deal with these kinds of topics including issues around a performance appraisal form and performance rating.