The death of the appraisal

The recent headlines could lead you to believe that appraisal systems are dead, and there are no reasons for managers to complete reviews with staff.  However before managers put out the bunting to celebrate no longer needing to complete a yearly appraisal with all their staff, when you look behind the headlines it would suggest that although companies such as Abode, Accenture, Deloitte, Microsoft and GE have done away with yearly appraisals, they still have review systems in place.

The traditional appraisal system doesn’t necessarily support the changes on how organsiations operate in the millennial with a greater focus of flexibility, short term business goals, technological advances, a changing workforce including more homeworking and a move away from the job for life culture.   However, companies still need to have some form of review systems in place as research has shown that staff value feedback and it’s also important that staff understand the expectations of the company.   Companies need to decide what type of review systems will work best for their culture and suit the skills/experiences of their managers and staff.   Review systems need to be flexible and not so onerous, particularly around paperwork, that both the manager and employee becomes disengaged with the process.  Overall for any review systems to work, there are several elements that need to be in place including:

• Managers engaging with staff through regularly review meetings. The frequency of these will be very much dependent on the needs of the individual staff and the resources but they should be held at least every quarter.
• Goal settings – this should be based on a collaborative approach – if you get the employee to suggest goals/targets they are more likely to be focused on achieving them
• Feedback – the review meetings are an excellent time for managers to provide feedback to staff on how they are doing including development areas. It should also be a two way street with staff encouraged to provide feedback.
• Development – the review systems should allow for staff to identify their own development needs with guidance from their managers.
• Training should be provided to the managers to help them support the overall aims of the review system which will lead to engaged and motivated staff as well as looking at how they reward staff if there is no longer an element of pay reviews linked to the systems
• If companies remove away from setting a person’s pay on their ratings from appraisal system, a reward system is put in place which is fair and transparent and managers are clear on how staff can be rewarded