subject: Tips on Giving Fair Performance Evaluations [print this page] Great managers must develop the art of giving fair performance evaluations. Useful and unbiased assessments greatly help the worker, the line leader, staff members, and the company at large. A manager must be willing and able to give impartial evaluations to be successful. Your team will grow stronger as you avoid the pitfalls of many new managers who misunderstand human nature. Build your team's morale and you will build your organization's profit margin.
Recency Effect
You do not want to be guilty of evaluating employees' performance only based on recent developments. This trap, called the Recency Effect, causes staff to go into performance mode when they know they are being watched. Like "studying for the test" in school, short term performance does not assure long term quality output. Those who know they are up for evaluation will appear more positive, outgoing, and too willing to work harder. One tip off is when employees bring treats for the evaluator.
Maintain consistency by taking notes all year. You may carry around a notebook or keep notes in your mobile device. Better yet, open a spreadsheet and keep a running log of the performance of your subordinates. Just having something solid like this to evaluate an employee will build morale for the long term, even if people are a little put out after buying all those doughnuts. Keep your notes for the job performance evaluation under lock and key as such information can become a liability. Confidentiality also keeps the playing field open for everyone to outperform their own past behavior.
Evaluating Favorites
Fairness may not be natural to humans as we submit to subjectivity so easily. You can easily slip into the mistake of evaluating your favorites higher than others. Step outside of emotional reach when rating a person you feel specially attached to. Sometimes you can be overly harsh with the ones you are closest to. Be sure to give a fair performance evaluation to all members the same. Avoid giving too high of praises or too crushing of criticism. Think what you can say or do to motivate this person to excellence. Playing favorites will only cripple productivity.
Tell the Truth
Soft-hearted managers like to avoid confrontations and only talk up the good. While this seems the easier way out, it will only serve to injure your efforts later. When you need to let a poor worker go, it will not seem justified based on your soft-sided job performance evaluations. Give a fair performance evaluation and keep the deadwood from growing roots in your organization.
