Does anyone really relish the idea of appraisals or performance reviews?
However, the benefits of using performance reviews to improve your people’s skills, performance and abilities cannot be denied if everyone in your firm takes them seriously.
And if you repeatedly improve your team’s skills, knowledge and capabilities you’ll grow your firm.
As a partner or senior manager, you already know the importance of recruiting capable staff and providing them with the initial training and tools they require to do the job effectively.
To grow these people and to ensure they are performing to expectations and meeting targets, you can use an effective performance review or appraisal process to discuss goals, behaviours and results.
In my experience, many employees view appraisals as a dreaded annual rite of passage that mostly fail to work well.
They mostly fail to work well because the manager hasn’t taken them seriously enough.
Make the review time non-negotiable time in your diary
Prepare for the appraisal thoroughly with working history and areas for discussion
Focus on the development of your employee
ALWAYS follow up on the actions and measures agreed in the appraisal
ALWAYS deliver any training or support needs agreed in the appraisal
Performance reviews should be viewed as an opportunity, one-to-one time that both of you probably rarely get and this time should not be compromised in any way.
Implement a REGULAR simple performance review process using a SIMPLE APPRAISAL FORM to ensure you improve the performance of your team and grow your accountancy firm.