Around this time of year, many employers are carrying our performance appraisals with their staff. This (usually) annual event can pose HR issues that employers need to be aware of.

Firstly, it should be noted that there is no legal requirement to carry out appraisals. However, the law applies to them in a range of ways including the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination, and various other laws and regulations relating to fair and reasonable treatment of employees.

Also, any information shared in them may be used at employment tribunal proceedings. It is essential therefore that managers are honest in their assessment of their staff and do not award satisfactory ratings where the employee in fact fails to perform satisfactorily.

In order to mitigate against any unconscious biases individual managers may have, training on equality diversity and inclusion, and on the appraisal process generally is a good way to ensure annual appraisals go as smoothly as possible and are carried out in a consistent way across the organisation.

Appraisals offer managers an opportunity to discuss with their staff their performance – often against set objectives and their contribution to the work of the organisation and their personal development and training needs.

Appraisals can be time consuming. They go beyond the day-to-day conversations that happen between managers and employees on immediate issues and review the work as a whole, looking at trends in behaviour or performance or discussing the feelings and views of the individual. They are about getting the job done now and establishing plans for the future.

Thorough preparation by both the appraiser (usually the employee’s line manager) and appraisee (the employee) is essential to an effective appraisal process.

Reflection by both sides encourages engagement with the process and makes it more likely to be a successful exercise.

Central to most appraisal processes is the interview. Appraisals should not be a two-way process and therefore the stage where the appraiser and appraisee come together to discuss their assessment of the work and discuss the employee’s views about the job, their competence and their future is important. 

A formal procedure allows managers and staff to sit down together and consider:

• how the individual has performed against goals set at the last appraisal and the reasons for the level of performance
• how the individual’s development needs, identified at the last appraisal, have been met
• obstacles to good performance and how these might be overcome
• objectives for the next year
• training and development needs
• the relevance of the current job description.

Appraisals should not have too wide a set of goals. In most organisations, the purpose of the appraisal process is to provide an opportunity for managers and staff to discuss current and future performance and goals and for the organisation to carry out an audit of its people strengths and weaknesses.

Where objectives are set, these can be used to align departmental and individual goals with that of the organisation.

Just as preparation is important, what happens after the appraisal is also crucial to an effective process. Follow up paperwork should be provided and stored, and any agreements that were made in the appraisal should be followed up on, such as the provision of training and opportunities for development or project work, for example.  

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