I'm putting together a white paper on performance appraisals.  Together with researching it is a great opportunity to stop for a moment and think through the performance appraisal process.

Just to keep myself fresh as I approach the topic I've looked at thinking it through from the appraisee's perspective.  And drawing on my time in corporate life and experience with a variety of clients looked at what does the appraisee want to discuss.  I've come to the following conclusions on what I wanted and what I have observed others to want.

(Please note, I am currently thinking more broadly than some 1 hour annual appraisal)

• How am I doing?  I was always very self-motivated but I did want to know my managers' and the organisation's view of how I was doing
• Am I doing the right things?  I probably wouldn't have expressed it that way - but you do sometimes get these moments of doubt at work that you may be barking up the wrong tree
• What am I going to be doing next?  I hated stagnating - I always wanted to have something different to do and something challenging
• Is there any relevant training I can access?   Most of us want to learn.
• How are things going more broadly?  I always found the appraisal time a useful moment to check out how my manager was getting on, whether there were any changes afoot.

When I was in HSBC I also wanted to know my performance grade - but I only wanted to know that because I wanted to know my pay rise.  Frankly I used to dismiss the grade as a poor method of representing a year's work.

When I look at this list I notice that it is easy to fit these appraisee needs into the appraisal process.  And you can even design performance appraisal forms that hint and nudge the appraiser to give this information.

Not a bad perspective to have taken for a while - right, back to the research.

Brendan