Practical Advice on Coaching and Performance Appraisal

Source: Inside Public Accounting

Following are excerpts from the article Employee Coaching: It’s Not as Hard As You Think; And the Investment of Time Yields Big Payoffs. It is based on an interview by IPA with Joanne G. Sujansky, PhD, CEO of KEYGroup. To read the entire article, click here.

• Done properly, performance appraisal allows you to develop your existing work force, shape the culture of your firm, and get more things done. On the other hand, poor performance appraisals actually hamper performance and harm the firm by…potentially exacerbating the root of the problems.
• Coaching is spontaneous, sometimes planned, and the sum total of these ends up being what your performance review is for the year.
• Many firms think coaching requires more skill than it actually does. They think it’s always about poor performance. ‘I’m told to coach daily but that’s impossible, I have nine people reporting to me.’ Well, nine people can get a quick e-mail or pat on the back. I don’t suggest correction in any other way than in person.
• If you have job descriptions, it is easier to coach because you can see how an employee is doing in comparison to what he or she is supposed to be doing.
• In conducting a performance appraisal point out the strong performance areas, the areas that need to be developed, and ways to work on those. Nothing should be a surprise during the process.
• Beware of the halo effect and its opposite. Once the employee is a good, solid employee you tend to think of him or her like that forever. When people do something that damages their performance record, you perceive them in a certain way and they may never get away from that negative perception.
• Keep the keepers and lose the losers. Hire more slowly and fire more quickly.
• Never postpone appraisal meetings because it gives the impression that the process isn’t that important.
• Employees need encouragement to interact. For example, you can ask ‘What is your proudest accomplishment this year? What was the toughest thing you had to face this past year?’ Sometimes people will talk about how tough it is working with a particular person. You have to be able to handle that kind of feedback and act on it.

For the complete article, click here.

From Inside Public Accounting, January 2008, p. 4, The Platt Consulting Group (www.plattgroupllc.com). Subscription $379 per year; back issues—nonsubscribers $50. 317-733-1920.

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