Subject Focus (January)
Appraisals Business Improvement Leadership and Management Health and Social Care Sales and Marketing
Our focus this month is on appraisals
Appraisals can be a hugely important part of staff development and, done well, can be a very positive experience for both employer and employee. However, it’s important that they’re well planned and prepared for. We have a range of e-learning courses that will quickly give you the latest thinking on running performance appraisals. So whether you’re setting up appraisals for the first time, or you just want to refresh your skills, we have a course or ebook for you.
As a manager leading staff appraisal and as an employee contributing to them I must admit my experience has been mixed. Organisations’ appraisal systems are as varied as the people involved in them; from a quick chat over a coffee to a full blown 360 degree process. However, the effectiveness of any process I believe is really down to the way it is delivered and the skills of those taking part. Of course we all aim to build mutual respect with our colleagues and understand how our conduct impacts on others, but to achieve this, particularly with the 360 degree appraisal model, every member of staff needs to contribute to the process in a professional manner, and these skills generally need to be taught. Since becoming UK Law in October 2010 the Equality Act has received a great deal of press with recognisable discrimination cases in professional and international football, sports media, healthcare, leisure and the police to name but a few. 3 years on, the Equality & Diversity debate is aired daily in TV news reports, newspaper articles, radio broadcasts and it seems that many organisations still haven’t got the message that getting equality and diversity practice wrong damages business, devalues employees, isolates customers and is costly in terms of legal cases and tribunals – and is illegal when discrimination is proven to have occurred. |