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Performance Appraisals Map Progress

Pay for performance is a good way to ensure that employees are paid according to their ability to step up and meet the challenges of the changing workplace.

Any system providing raises or incentives based on anything less than pay for performance may result in employee dissatisfaction and low morale.

Employees will feel that increases are based on who the boss likes best or on other less than fair factors.

By establishing pay for performance with clearly defined guidelines, pay increases and other incentives can be distributed fairly and without bias.

In order for pay for performance to work, there must be a way to measure performance.

This means that a baseline must be in place against which to compare improvement. Whether the metric is based on how many widgets per hour the employee produces or the customer satisfaction survey results of clients with whom they interact, there must be a meaningful way to chart progress or success.

Whatever attribute of the process or procedure that is being measured needs to be tracked for at least one month in order to establish a baseline marking the performance level.

Goals can then be established identifying the level of improvement desired and ways the improvement can be facilitated (such as through training and development courses).

Monthly measurements can help identify what changes are effective and which areas need more work throughout the appraisal period.

At intervals, usually every three to six months, employee appraisals should be informally reviewed with the employee to identify if there are roadblocks impacting progress, challenges being met and other factors that should be updated in the formal appraisal document.

If the employee's job duties have significantly changed, this should be recorded in their employee appraisal report form so that changing goals can be identified and new measurements agreed upon.

By using these techniques, the employee appraisal review at the end of the review period will be much easier and simpler for both the employee being reviewed and the leaders performing the reviews.

By ensuring that the pay for performance process is very real and the leadership team stands behind the process, employees will actually be eager to have their employee appraisal reviews.

Completed goals can be documented and ongoing goals can be updated.

Keep in mind that in any pay for performance system, the only meaningful goals are measurable goals.

Pay for performance can only work with truly measurable data points to determine where pay for performance increases should be given.

Copyright © 2006 by Bill Roche. All rights reserved. All material on this site (www.TopResults.com) is protected by U.S. Federal Copyright law. It may not be reprinted in any form, or hosted on any Web site, without explicit permission.

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Copyright © 1998-2008 by Bill Roche. All rights reserved. All material on this site (www.TopResults.com) is protected by U.S. Federal Copyright law. It may not be reprinted in any form, or hosted on any Web site, without explicit permission.