Much time is spent during the annual budget review period on the physical assets of the village – quantity surveyor reports, valuations, building inspections – are all actioned diligently in accordance with legislation or company policy.
However so often the very important PERSON ASSETS of the village – the people who make up your team – get overlooked.
This budget review phase is a great time to conduct Performance appraisals with Village team members.
You can be looking at any increase provisions, training or professional development actions, and that team entitlements are allocated effectively.
A common mistake when conducting performance appraisals is to make the review one-way, top down, which sees the leader as the judge, jury and decision maker of the employee’s behaviours and achievements.
It is really important to ensure that the process is two-way, and if you really want to look at effective reviews then consider using the 360-degree system. It allows for a peer and stakeholder review as well as self-review.
There are many online solutions to conduct this review – SurveyMonkey even has a template you can use.
Another common mistake when conducting performance appraisals is that there is no investigation of what might be causing an employee not to reach their performance targets.
In my experience, people don’t under-perform for no reason.
Sometimes it can be a case of a simple misunderstanding, a lack of upfront or ongoing training, boredom, lack of support or regular two-way dialogue. Sound familiar?
So often employees come away from performance appraisals going “so what?” “What a waste of time…” as there is no follow-up action put in place, no ‘What’s Next’! for the employee.
It is vital if we want to keep people engaged in our sector and communities that we formalise the support we are prepared to provide and invest in their future careers.
For me keeping it simple is important – a simple action plan outlining 2-3 actions for the next quarter/half year, (a special project, a learning activity, increased responsibility) with a commitment of a regular follow up and support meetings is imperative to keep our team engaged and energised.