HR Industry White Paper Employee Performance Management

Top 12 Performance Appraisal Meeting Dos and Donts

Compiled by HRN Management Group Marketing Manager, Paul Hendrycks
Having served in a supervisory or management position for nearly 20 years at a wide spectrum of
companies ranging from small to gargantuan, I believe I have experienced just about every employee
performance evaluation method imaginable. Improvements have been made over the years to the tools
and methodology of measuring and documenting employee performance. One thing has remained
constant howeverthe awkward and tension-filled one-on-one performance appraisal meeting.
So what have I learned over the past two decades and through countless performance evaluation
interviews? Below is a list of 12 performance evaluation meeting dos and donts that will help
performance appraisal meetings be productive and effective. The overriding theme is that your ongoing
involvement, as a manager, is the most critical success factornot the process, tools, or technology
used to document and measure performance.
1. Do make sure the employee is aware how, and on what criteria they are being evaluated.
Employees should understand and have documentation available to them during the evaluation
period that states what defines a successful performance. They should understand when and
how they will be evaluated. Meet with employees early in the evaluation period to agree on
performance objectives and development goals for the year. It is important to make sure goals
are written to be measurable. Review goals with the employee a few months prior to the
evaluation and modify as necessary to reflect shifting priorities during the year.
2. Do keep performance notes on your staff. Save emails or other correspondence that
document good or bad performance. Solicit input from other employees that interact on a
regular basis with the employee being evaluated. Keep notes on when activities were
completed, circumstances of absences or disciplinary actions. Keeping notes allows you to
include dates, names, and project details in your performance documentation that demonstrates
awareness and involvement.
3. Do allow employees to evaluate their own performance. Provide blank review
documentation to employees and ask them to rate their performance using the same criteria
you will be using. Most employees appreciate being involved in the process. This will provide a
first hand source of factual input relevant to the employees performance and also alert you to
any perception gaps in performance ratings.
4. Do show respect to the employee by being prepared. Send a clear signal to each of your
staff that this meeting is important. Know when each employees appraisal is scheduled to
occur. Start documentation several weeks in advance. Schedule the meeting at least a week in
advance at a time convenient for the employee. If you dont have a private office in which to
conduct the meeting, reserve a private conference room. Have all documentation completed
with a copy for the employee. Most importantly, dont postpone or reschedule the meeting
because of your schedule unless it is ABSOLUTELY unavoidable.
5. Do treat the meeting as a focused business meeting. Small talk is fine to break the ice but
do not bring up topics that can divert the focus of the meeting. Do not mix in a social element
such as going offsite to lunch, or an after work happy hour to conduct an evaluation. If you want
to show appreciation to an employee for their performance, invite them to go to lunch with you
at a future time. Finally do not gossip, or talk negatively about other employees. If you talk this
way about other employees what is the message you are sending to this employee?
6. Dont seat yourself in a position to be between the employee and the door. This may seem
trivial, but this is advice I received from an HR mentor many years ago and it has served me
well to create a relaxed, non threatening environment.

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HR Industry White Paper Employee Performance Management

7. Dont wait until, or use the appraisal meeting to inform an employee of unsatisfactory
performance requiring disciplinary action. While there may be differences of opinion
between a manager and an employee related to performance ratings, there should not be
any surprises during the meeting. Performance issues requiring oral reprimand, written
warnings or disciplinary action must be addressed and documented in a timely manner
relative to their occurrence. If you are concerned about how the meeting will go when a
particularly thorny issue is brought up, invite a representative from HR to attend the meeting
as a calming agent and witness.
8. Dont wait until the end of the meeting to inform an employee of their merit increase.
Communicating merit increase information about midway through in the meeting helps ease
tensions and create a more collaborative atmosphere for open communication. If you hold
this information until the end as some sort of grand finale, the employee is less engaged and
just wants to get it over with to find out how much of a raise they are getting. Always let the
employee know the date their new pay rate will be effective. If the rating warrants a low or no
increase, build your case to point out unsatisfactory performance and justify the decision.
9. Do be careful what you write. A performance evaluation is an important document that can,
and often is, used as evidence in employment related grievances or legal proceedings. It is
important that you include only relevant performance related objective information. Do not
include humorous anecdotes, personal information or judgmental statements. Above all avoid
offensive or discriminatory language. Do not omit information because it may be
uncomfortable to discuss or potentially contentious.
10. Dont debate. Keep control of the meeting and reign in discussion. As the manager you have
the final word and if you have been fair in your assessment you must stand by your rating. If
the employee presents new information, thank them for bringing it to your attention, request
documentation, and inform him/her that you will consider this information, and if warranted,
make an adjustment. Do not commit to making any adjustments to the evaluation rating.
11. Dont do the majority of the talking. The best way to receive no productive feedback from
an employee is to read the evaluation word for word. You want to ask questions, encourage
discussion, and get employees talking. Typically, I provide a copy of the evaluation to the
employee prior to the meeting and ask them to read it over. I start the meeting by
paraphrasing overall performance in a positive and supportive manner and explain that the
remainder of the meeting will focus on accomplishments, areas of concern, and setting future
goals. Encourage employees to share their thoughts and suggestions. Be open-minded and
look for opportunities for improvement. Always keep conversations confidential.
12. Do require that the employee sign and return the evaluation by a specific date.
Understand that an employee has the right to disagree with your assessment. If this has not
happened to you yet, it will. When this happens, handle the situation professionally. Do not
allow employees to write or comment on the appraisal document (unless there is space
specifically for this purpose). Ask them to write their comments on a separate piece of paper
and in the signature area (they are still required to sign the document) include a notation
regarding the disagreement and attachment.

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