This post is focused en performance appraisal methods in small and medium businesses (SMB’s or SME’s). This is part of a series of Human Resources posts. The first post dealt with the Recruitment process and the next is about Training.
When we covered the recruitment process, we mentioned that in an SME nothing is more important than having a committed team with the skills and attitudes needed to grow the business.
A mistake made when recruiting can come at a high cost, but the cost of not evaluating properly is also an obstacle because it can affect the motivation of your team, lead to customer dissatisfaction and eventually cause bankruptcy.
Performance appraisal methods: which one should you chose
In this context, we must understand that it is really important to form a good team and keep it motivated and committed to the objectives of the SME. To achieve this there are several assessment tools: 360 evaluations, anonymous forms, peer review, unilateral appraisal methods, economic performance evaluations, etc.
In this instance, we present a performance appraisal method that can fit any SME: periodic meetings with each member of the team. But for this instrument to be successful, it is important to follow a methodology.
Why frequency is so important
In an SME you probably have a lot to do. And sometimes the lack of free time diverts us from completing also very important tasks (but not that urgent) such as the assessment of our team.
So the suggestion is to fix the frequency of the appraisal meeting, for example:
- Once every six months, e.g. the first week of February and the first week of August
- ½ hour with each team member
- Interpersonal meeting with the direct boss
This frequency allows:
- that while the door should always be open to your employees, we are certain that at least twice a year we evaluate the staff, how they feel, how much commitment there is and how aligned the members are with the objectives of the SME.
- that the team knows that instance exists. Many people are not confident enough to discuss topics with their boss. By having a fixed instance, you can sense uncomfortable situations before they even occur and control them.
- that the whole team plans the meeting in advance.
- that the focus of the evaluation is concentrated in a single week. It is essential that the team members see this instance as a positive opportunity and do not associate assessment with punishment.
What to evaluate
During the meeting you should evaluate:
- Motivation: Do the tasks challenge the employee? Does he feel that there is professional growth? Does he see his job as a burden, as something neutral, or as something that contributes to his professional development?
- Commitment: Does the employee imagine working for the company in two years? (Note: It is important to ask this question clearly and directly, it is better to hear an unwanted answer than ignoring it).
- What can we improve as a company? It is important that the interview is like a two-way street, both sides should be evaluated.
- Explain the performance of the individual, and if possible provide specific examples in those areas that need improvement. It is important to discuss this at the very end, partly because it will depend on previous perceptions. You must take advantage of this last section to align, motivate, and answer the questions previously raised.
The follow-up
New issues may arise during the meeting and that requires further follow-up. It is very important to do that, otherwise, the whole meeting loses effectiveness because people feel that their suggestions are not heard. Both sides must make an effort to achieve the set goals.
BPM to improve performance appraisal methods
Flokzu Cloud Workflow will help you improve the evaluation process at every stage and allow you to save relevant information and follow up on issues arising from the meetings. In addition, it is very important to record all comments and conclusions to review them six months later, during the next appraisal meeting.
An additional advantage of automating the process is that you can control that all evaluations are completed. It is discouraging for a person to feel “forgotten”. Automated evaluations allow you to be sure that everyone has an appraisal meeting.
The evaluation process may look like this (in BPMN notation):
- Step 1: Using a system integration template (HR) automatically creates assessment instances. Task: “New appraisal”.
- Step 2: Task: “Additional comments to discuss during the meeting”. CEO, supervisors and other managers add topics for the evaluation.
- Step 3: Task: “Appraisal meeting”, in which the supervisor registers the results of the evaluation meeting. Here two things can happen: new issues arise from the meeting, in which the process continues to step 4, or there are no new issues, in which case the process comes to an end.
- Step 4: Task “Resolve new issues”, where the supervisor resolves the issues and continues to step 5
- Step 5: Task “Provide feedback about new issues”, and here again there are two options: new issues arise (return to step 4) or there are no new issues and the process comes to an end.
Summing up…
Performance appraisal methods are key to retain talent. In this post, we expose one instrument: a periodic meeting with each member of the team. We also proposed a workflow to automate this process and make sure it is executed as planned.
At Flokzu Cloud BPM, we provide the most complete low-code / no-code platform to create your cloud workflow applications in minutes. We also have a free trial of our Premium service, through which you can create your own apps.
In this post, you can find several HR-related processes, that several organizations around the globe have implemented.
