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The Most Successful Non-Traditional Performance Appraisal Options

HR Files is a segment allowing managers to ask questions answered directly by our CEO, Darcy Swift. This month we discuss successful non-traditional performance appraisal options.

QUESTION: My company is wanting to move away from traditional, annual performance appraisals. I have no idea where to even start looking for another, more effective option. Do you know of any other options that are more successful?

ANSWER: Traditional, annual performance appraisals concentrate on the good, bad and ugly of what someone has done over the entire year. The reason many companies are going away from this method is because it takes out the humanity and focuses primarily on numbers. Many companies have chosen to transition to more fluid options that have proven to be more effective. The most successful of these being merit evaluations or leadership/team building conversations.

Leadership/Team building conversations are focusing on the positive information to give an employee on how to grow and build their leadership skills. It creates an environment where employees are an active part of their own professional growth. Merit evaluations are based off of the individual goals that have been set. These evaluations are done more often, and are more of a conversation as opposed to an appraisal. They tend to have a better result.

These options do not need to be annual. If you are creating a new system, then you have the opportunity to set a new schedule. You can set a monthly or quarterly time frame so the goals are smaller and more attainable. This gives employees an opportunity to adjust their goals and reach for higher measures if they are looking to gain more success.

Please contact us if you have a question you want answered, We will feature one frequently asked question a month.