Managing Performance Between Annual Appraisals

From: IOMA

The best AP managers know that good staff performance management goes way beyond the annual appraisal form. But does that mean filling out evaluation forms several times a year? Hardly. It simply means doing quarterly performance reviews and discussions with your staff, says David A. Hofrichter, Ph.D., Managing Director, Compensation, at Buck Consultants, LLC, a global human resource consulting firm specializing in compensation and employee rewards and performance. Hofrichter has been named to Consulting Magazine's list of Top 25 Consultants in the World.

"Managers just need to sit down and have a performance discussion-not a formal review," says Hofrichter. "I'm talking about an informal discussion. How's it going? Are you coming across any obstacles? How can I help you? Engagement in discussion is what matters---not a form you have to fill out."

Having ongoing, informal discussions helps remove the threatening feeling that people can get when it comes to formal appraisals. "You don't want people to feel like they have to prepare for a 'game' in which the boss is going to try to undersell me and I have to oversell myself," Hofrichter points out.

What managers don't want to do when it comes to between-appraisal performance management is focus on numbers rather than on improvement, he notes.

To illustrate his point, Hofrichter uses the analogy of a football coach who tosses statistics at his quarterback in the middle of the game. "You need to coach, not grab the quarterback and say, 'You've made only four out of your last 10 passes and your goal was seven, by the way.' A good coach will say, 'You're rushing, take your time, you're not looking to your outside receivers.'"

Bottom line, says Hofrichter: "Performance management should focus on how to improve, not how your people have fallen short."

For more information: This article was adapted from IOMA's Guide to Performance Metrics 2007, a special report that examines the use of pay for performance to help achieve business objectives. For more information on this report, click here.